Olympique Lyonnais snapped Olympique de Marseille’s eight-game winning streak on Sunday thanks to a second-half goal from Yoann Gourcuff that threw the Ligue 1 title race wide open.
The hard-fought 1-0 win at the Stade de Gerland was harsh on Marcelo Bielsa’s men, who dominated for large periods of the second half, but were caught out by a counterattack with 25 minutes left.
Former Ligue 1 player of the year Gourcuff scored the crucial goal on 65 minutes against the run of the play when Lyon completely split open the l’OM rearguard.
Photo: AFP
With the loss, Marseille saw their league lead reduced to four points over champions Paris Saint-Germain, who brushed aside Girondins de Bordeaux 3-0 on Saturday, while Lyon moved ahead of AS Saint-Etienne into third on goal-difference, with both sides five adrift.
The last time Marseille reached eight victories in a row was in 1998 and it was also les Gones who broke their streak then.
The defeat was tough for Bielsa’s side, who threatened on several occasions to take the lead, but were denied by the excellent Anthony Lopes in the home goal.
Photo: AFP
Earlier, Saint-Etienne kept up their bid for a first French title since 1981 with a late 1-0 victory over Metz, while in Brittany, Carlos Eduardo scored five goals as OGC Nice thrashed En Avant de Guingamp 7-2.
On-loan Brazilian Eduardo struck a first-half hat-trick before adding a second-half brace as Nice ran riot at Guingamp. It was the first time les Aiglons had scored seven goals away from home and they equaled their biggest winning margin on the road from 1960 and 1972 when they beat Troyes and Le Mans 5-0 respectively.
The 25-year-old Eduardo, who normally operates as a midfielder, is on loan from Porto and now has six goals in seven matches. The three points took Nice up to seventh place and eight points behind Marseille.
Elsewhere, Stade Rennais won for the third time in five home matches and added to LOSC Lille Metropole’s problems with a 2-0 victory at their Stade de la route de Lorient.
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