Crystal Palace fans have every reason to feel a spark of excitement this summer. The south London club have handed the reins to Pierre Sage, the French coach who turned struggling sides into thrill machines capable of the most outrageous comebacks. His appointment in June 2026 marks a new chapter for the Eagles, but it is his previous results that already have betting folk across England talking about the kind of payouts that make a season memorable.
Sage has never managed in the Premier League before, yet his track record is packed with nights when the underdogs or the late surges paid out handsomely. Here is a look at the matches that defined his rise and delivered the largest returns at bananzia.org.uk for those who backed his teams when few others dared.
The Night Lyon Finally Remembered How to Win at Home
December 2023. Lyon sat bottom of Ligue 1. Fabio Grosso had gone, and Sage, the academy man, stepped in as caretaker. Confidence was rock bottom. The first home win of the entire season still felt a lifetime away. Then Toulouse arrived at the Groupama Stadium on 10 December. Few outside the home dressing room expected much. Lyon had been shipping goals and looking short of ideas. What followed felt like a release. Alexandre Lacazette scored three times, the first two coming in a four-minute burst either side of the 25-minute mark. A header from a corner and a quick reaction to a rebound put the hosts 2-0 up. Toulouse missed a penalty just before the break, and Lacazette sealed it late with his third. The final score was 3-0. It was not just any victory. It was the first time Lyon had won at home all season, and it arrived when the side were still propping up the table. Punters who had taken Lyon at long odds that afternoon walked away with returns that more than justified the risk. The result lit the fuse for everything that followed under Sage.
The 16-Minute Stoppage-Time Madness Against Brest
By April 2024 Lyon were climbing, but nobody predicted what happened on 14 April against second-placed Brest. The visitors were flying high and chasing a Champions League spot. Lyon led early through Corentin Tolisso. Then the roof fell in. Steve Mounié equalised on the hour. Romain Del Castillo scored twice in three minutes to make it 3-1. Groupama Stadium fell quiet. Lacazette pulled one back on 70 minutes. Nicolas Tagliafico levelled nine minutes later. Both sides finished with ten men after a late scuffle. Then, deep into the 16th minute of added time, after Lacazette had been stretchered off following a collision with the Brest keeper, Ainsley Maitland-Niles stepped up and converted the penalty. Final score 4-3. Lyon had trailed 3-1 with twenty minutes left and still found a way. The drama stretched past the 105-minute mark. Anyone who had backed Lyon to win from that position, or simply stuck with them at the start when Brest were clear favourites, collected some of the season’s fattest returns. The night became the perfect snapshot of Sage’s early impact: a team that refused to accept the script.
Seven Goals and a Last-Gasp Winner in Lille
The final day of the 2023-24 Ligue 1 season delivered another classic. On 6 May Lyon travelled to Lille needing a result to lock down sixth place and Europa League football. Lille, chasing a top-three finish of their own, raced into a 2-0 half-time lead through Bafodé Diakité and Edon Zhegrova. Saïd Benrahma pulled one back after the break. Malick Fofana equalised. Diakité restored Lille’s lead. Lacazette levelled again. Then, in the second minute of stoppage time, Mama Baldé finished a move started by Clinton Mata. Final score 3-4 to Lyon. The visitors had scored four times after trailing by two. The last-gasp winner sent Lyon into Europe and left Lille empty-handed. For those who had taken Lyon at double-digit odds before kick-off, or who had stayed with them through the chaos, the payout matched the drama. Sage’s side had gone from the foot of the table in December to European qualification in May, and this match sealed it in the most breathless fashion possible.
The Bollaert Turnaround That Kept the Title Race Alive
Sage moved to Lens in the summer of 2025 and immediately raised the bar again. By April 2026 his side sat second, still chasing Paris Saint-Germain. On 17 April Toulouse visited the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Within thirteen minutes the visitors led 2-0. Cristian Cásseres and Seny Koumbassa had punished early mistakes. Yann Gboho then saw red, leaving Toulouse with ten men, yet Lens still needed a miracle. Saud Abdulhamid scored on 61 minutes. Adrien Thomasson equalised six minutes later. In the first minute of added time Ismaëlo Ganiou headed home the winner from a corner. Final score 3-2. Lens had come from two goals down in front of their own supporters and kept the pressure on the league leaders. The late drama produced another set of handsome returns for anyone who had backed the home side after the early deficit or simply trusted Sage’s record for comebacks. The result also gave Lens a psychological edge before they met Toulouse again in the Coupe de France semi-final days later.
History Made in the Coupe de France Final
The crowning moment arrived on 22 May 2026 at the Stade de France. Lens faced Nice in the Coupe de France final, chasing the first major trophy in the club’s long history. Sage’s team controlled the occasion and won 3-1. The victory completed a remarkable first season in charge: second place in Ligue 1 and the cup. For the punters who had followed Lens all the way through the competition, the final delivered the biggest collective celebration of the campaign. Sage had taken a side many viewed as solid rather than spectacular and turned them into champions of France’s oldest cup competition.
Now the same coach walks into Selhurst Park. Crystal Palace supporters will hope the late goals and refusal to fold travel with him. The matches listed above were not ordinary wins. They were the nights when the odds stretched widest and the returns grew fattest for those willing to believe in Sage’s teams when the scoreline looked bleak. English football has a new French storyteller on the touchline, and if the past is any guide, the next dramatic chapter may already be writing itself.