An incredible four-goal first-half haul from Toulouse paved the way for their first Coupe de France victory in 66 years as they demolished holders Nantes 5-1 at the Stade de France on Saturday with Dutch forward Thijs Dallinga and defender Logan Costa both grabbing two goals.
THE MATCH
Nantes came to the Stade de France as holders and having won the Coupe de France four times. Two of those came in back-to-back seasons between 1998 and 2000, and the club's fans packed into the stadium in Paris' northern suburbs with the hope of history repeating itself. Instead, Toulouse wrote their own.
Logan Costa earned his own slice with the quickest brace in final history. Branco van den Boomen's set-pieces have been a feature of Toulouse's season, and the Dutch midfielder's fourth-minute corner was another gem with Costa quicker to it than Andrei Girotto (4').
The Cape Verde defender's first goal of the season was quickly followed by the second. Nantes again failed to deal with a Van den Boomen free-kick, and when Stijn Spierings turned the ball back across the face of goal, Costa headed home from close range (10').
Nantes were stunned, but there was the knockout blow to come as Dallinga moved into top gear. His first goal owed much to Gabriel Suazo's fantastic through ball that curled around Jean-Charles Castelletto and into the Dutch striker's path — he delicately lifted a lob over Alban Lafont for his fifth Coupe de France goal of the campaign (23').
He also had 17 in 36 competitive appearances, and soon made it an average of a goal every other game when — after Lafont had parried Farès Chaibi's shot into his path — he sidefooted into the net via a post (31') to give Toulouse an incredible lead.
Costa might even have made it a final hat-trick had he got another header from yet another Van den Boomen corner on target instead of sending it over the crossbar (56').
Ludovic Blas, whose stunning goal had seen off Lyon in the semi-final, pulled one back from the penalty spot after Rasmus Nicolaisen had felled Fabien Centonze (75').
But there was never going to be a comeback, and Zakaria Aboukhlal thrashed home a fifth after a Van den Boomen free-kick had been blocked as the holders were well beaten and now must focus on retaining their top-flight status while Toulouse can celebrate a first Coupe de France final win since 1957.
THE PLAYER: Branco van den Boomen
He did not get on the scoresheet, but the Dutch midfielder had a hand in his team's first two goals while his set-pieces were a constant menace, and led to Toulouse's fifth. Along with Dallinga and a number of others, Van den Boomen is a spectacular advertisement for Tolouse's recruitment cell.
THE STAT: 68
Toulouse are the first team to score four times in the first half of a Coupe de France final since Lille achieved the feat against Bordeaux on 29 May, 1955.
