Football: Dominant Lyon learn to win the hard way

Olympique Lyon's 1-0 extra time win over Paris St Germain in yesterday's French Cup final provided a fitting symbol for their season, the toughest in years but also the most successful for the country's top side.

PSG, who narrowly avoided relegation from the top flight, hit the woodwork twice and had a goal disallowed for offside before Sidney Govou struck on 102 minutes to secure Lyon a first League and Cup double.

"When you sum up our season you realise that, even when we suffer, we end up winning trophies," Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas told reporters after the match.

"Maybe PSG would have deserved to win the game but if you look at what we have achieved, this has been our best season," added Aulas, the chairman of a software company who turned Lyon from a mediocre provincial side into merciless winning machine.

A week earlier, Lyon had sealed a record seventh successive league title, which they did not run away with for a change, having to wait until the final round of matches to fend off a brave challenge from second-placed Girondins Bordeaux.

Now they have also won the Cup, a trophy they had been chasing since lifting it for the third time 35 years ago.

What the future holds for this year's squad remains unclear.