Evian banish league woes to reach Cup final

PARIS (AFP) –

Evian’s Moroccan forward Nadjib Baouia (C) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal during the French Cup football match Evian (ETGFC) vs Lorient (FCL) on May 8, 2013 at the city stadium Parc des sports in Annecy, eastern France. Evian won 4-0.

Relegation-threatened Evian put aside their Ligue 1 woes to reach the final of the French Cup for the first time as they swept past Lorient 4-0 on Wednesday.

Milos Ninkovic, Yannick Sagbo and Kevin Berigaud struck first-half goals at the Parc des Sports, while Nadjib Baouia added a late fourth in Annecy to set up a May 31 date in Paris with either Troyes or Bordeaux, whose match was put back a week after Tuesday’s scheduled clash was postponed due to the risk of flooding.

Evian played the role of giant killers by eliminating competition favourites Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, but three successive league defeats had seen them slide into the relegation zone.

Despite the absences of Saber Khlifa and Cedric Barbosa, the club’s leading scorers this term, through suspension and injury, Ninkovic put the hosts in front on 10 minutes with a composed finish after combining well with Sagbo before the Ivorian bundled in a second 10 minutes later.

Lorient’s misery was compounded as goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte failed to collect an innocuous loose ball, presenting Berigaud with the simplest of chances to further stretch Evian’s lead before Baouia stabbed home Eric Tie Bi’s cross on 80 minutes to cap a memorable evening for Haute-Savoie club.