Olympique Lyonnais travelled to Toulouse on Sunday afternoon hoping to build momentum after a comfortable 2-0 victory against Olympiacos in the Europa League during midweek.
It would be Les Violets that opened the scoring after Vincent Sierro slid an excellently timed pass to Yann Gboho who made no mistake with his finish as he fired his shot beyond Perri leaving the Lyon stopper no chance. The hosts continued to press on and search for a second but it would be Les Gones who found an equaliser against the run of play. Rasmus Nicolaisen turned Kumbedi’s cross into the Toulouse net. OL equalised without a shot on the Toulouse goal. It was level at the break.
The game continued to be even in the second half with Toulouse having most of the attacking opportunities thanks to some promising play from the goalscorer. Les Gones had on had 2 shots inside the opening 80 minutes of the match as the home side looked the most likely to find a winner. This almost happened as a deflected shot looked goalbound if not for a good stop from Perri.
However, it would be Lyon that would find a winner at the death. Substitute Malick Fofana’s shot was almost cleared off the line by Suazo, but it wasn’t enough, with goalline technology confirming the Belgian had scored. A goal against the run of play with Lyon running out as somewhat undeserved winners. Cherki was involved in a great piece of play beforehand to create the opportunity.
Fofana’s late goal would be enough to secure Lyon’s second win of the season and secure all three points on the road despite a lacklustre performance.
Lyon player ratings:
Lucas Perri – 4
Saël Kumbedi – 6, After being unfavourable for a long time, the young Frenchmen showed why he should be in contention. In an attacking sense, the France U20 international was a bright spark in what was an unelectrifying performance. His cross was responsible for creating the equaliser.
Clinton Mata – 4, Continuing to play out of position, the Angolan international looks immensely uncomfortable. As part of a fragile defence, most of the right back’s defensive work was last ditch or panicked. He couldn’t contain Gboho in the first half which showed in the match’s opening goal.
Duje Ćaleta-Car – 6
Abner – 5
Maxence Caqueret – 4
Tanner Tessmann – 5
Jordan Veretout – 4
Wilfried Zaha – 4, It wasn’t the Ligue 1 debut that the Ivorian would have been hoping for. The former Crystal Palace attacker was on the periphery for most of the match and struggled to influence the match. He was ultimately replaced just after half-time.
Georges Mikautadze – 4
Saïd Benrahama – 5
