Olympique Lyonnais reclaimed top spot in Ligue 1 on Saturday with a 3-1 win at 10-man En Avant de Guingamp, putting the pressure on fellow challengers Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille, who were to go head-to-head yesterday.
Despite missing key players such as defender Christophe Jallet, midfielder Maxime Gonalons and forward Yoann Gourcuff, Lyon dominated in Brittany with hosts Guingamp hit by the sending off of Christophe Kerbrat just before half-time.
Hubert Fournier’s Lyon sealed a comfortable victory largely thanks to first-half goals from French internationals Nabil Fekir and Alexandre Lacazette.
Photo: AFP
Cameroon forward Clinton Njie sealed the deal just after the hour mark.
“It was important to win to remain in the title race. There are seven games to go and we’re still here. It was a game we controlled, against a team that were waiting for us,” Fournier said.
“We showed patience and we managed to be efficient. The first goal put us on the right track and afterward we remained focused,” he added.
Guingamp’s Jonas Lossl gifted the opener to Fekir as the Danish goalkeeper failed to catch a tame effort and deflected it into his own net with just 27 minutes gone.
Twelve minutes later, Lacazette doubled the lead with his seventh penalty this season, and his 24th goal of the campaign.
Njie got the third after 61 minutes, although Claudio Beauvue pulled one back for the hosts when he pounced on a double defensive mistake by Samuel Umtiti and Mouhamadou Dabo 10 minutes from time to grab his 12th goal of the season.
Mid-table Guingamp had been looking to dent Lyon’s title challenge as the club’s league form picked up again after a slump.
However, with midfielder Benjamin Angoua serving the third game of his four-match ban and his replacement Kerbrat seeing red just before half-time for a foul on midfielder Jordan Ferri, the Brittany side were never in a position to make the seven-time champions tremble.
In Saturday’s late games, bottom side Metz beat Toulouse 3-2 to win their first game since November last year thanks to a Modibo Maiga hat-trick.
In the middle of the table, ninth-ranked Stade Rennais beat Brittany rivals Lorient 3-0, while OGC Nice remain 12th after they were held to a 2-2 home draw by strugglers Evian Thonon Gaillard.
Europeans contenders LOSC Lille Metropole and Montpellier Herault both picked up crucial points as they cruised past Stade de Reims and SC Bastia respectively with 3-1 victories.
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