These are three precious points in the race for Europe that Olympique Lyonnais has just pocketed. On Saturday evening, Peter Bosz’s men won 2-0 when they hosted OGC Nice. In the standings, the Lyonnais achieved a great operation and gained three places to move up to sixth place while waiting for the Monaco match this Sunday. On the Nice side, Fabien Galtier’s players remain third but can lose ground on the Marseille dolphin while Strasbourg can return to a small point in the event of victory on the lawn of Angers.
Les Gones were quick to take the lead thanks to a penalty converted by Moussa Dembélé in the 7th minute of the match after a hand from Justin Kluivert pressed by Lukeba in the penalty area. The center-forward had seen his first attempt repelled by Walter Benitez but Lucas Paqueta had followed the action well to open the scoring. He had to withdraw due to the premature entry of Nice players into the area and the absence of Benitez’s foot on the line. “I think we were keen to get this match off to a good start because we struggled in this area against Monaco, analyzed Anthony Lopes at the microphone of Canal +. We played two very high-level halves and we can draw a benchmark match from them. »
Ndombele decisive passer
The Lyonnais capitalized on this quick opener to put pressure on the people of Nice, especially on the counter-attacks. A phase of play in which Karl Toko-Ekambi particularly distinguished himself, back from the African Cup of Nations and in all the good moves on his left wing. Close to scoring the break goal at the half-hour mark, the Cameroonian was rewarded in the 52nd minute by easily taking over a pivoting cross from Tanguy Ndombele.
Returning to the winter transfer window, the player on loan from Tottenham thus offered himself a decisive pass for his first tenure. “We needed freshness and the latest recruits and the returns from the CAN arrived with a lot of desire, insisted Anthony Lopes. Winning against competitors for the European Cup is very important for us. »
The Niçois generally struggled to develop their game and place their attacks against a Lyon midfielder who was efficient in recovery and quick in transitions: their first shot on target only came in the 76th minute of play! They nevertheless obtained a few dangerous chances at the end of the first half, such as this face-to-face between Andy Delort and Anthony Lopes or this contentious fault by Romain Faivre on Kephren Thuram which could have been worth a penalty . “We are playing too average a match to be able to bring something back, said Morgan Schneiderlin at the microphone of Canal +. Our plan was to make them doubt and we felt that we had the possibility on certain transitions that we played badly. »
The Lyonnais could even have worsened the score on the hour mark through Moussa Dembélé, who could have benefited from a new penalty after a failed intervention by Walter Benitez in the area. The Gones striker was finally flagged offside by a few centimeters. Entering in place of Karl Toko-Ekambi at the end of the match, Tino Kadewere also missed a face-to-face in the last minutes. Next Saturday, the Lyonnais will travel to the lawn of Lens while Nice will host Angers the next day.