Lyon resumed fourth place in Ligue 1 by obtaining a completely deserved victory on the Auxerre field (3-1), Sunday after a closing match of the 29th day pleasant to follow and uncertain until the end.
The success of OL in Auxerre leaves the Rhone club in a good dynamic before going to Manchester on Thursday, in the Europa League (2-2 in the first leg).
Only Monaco and Strasbourg, in the championship, and Dunkirk in the Coupe de France, have so far managed this season to win at the Abbé-deschamps stadium.
Olympique Lyonnais, which links a second consecutive victory after that acquired against Lille (2-1), April 5, has 51 points, one length from Marseille (3rd) and a unit better than Lille (4th) and Strasbourg (5th).
It was Georges Mikautadze who gave a decisive advantage to OL by transforming a penalty granted for a fault committed on himself by goalkeeper Donovan Léon, released before him after an opening from Corentin Tolisso (54th).
This is the fifteenth goal for all competitions for the Georgian international this season.
Shortly after, Rayan Cherki brought the scoring to 2-0, again after a Tolisso’s decisive pass on an action of which he was originally (62nd).
Cherki, who had equalized after additional time on April 10 against Manchester, has been involved in sixteen goals (6 goals, 10 assists) since the arrival of Fonseca on January 31.
At the end of the game, Lassine Sinayoko reduced the gap by marking at close range after Thiago Almada was slow to release the ball (77th) before Alexandre Lacazette, served by Mikautadze, added a third goal for Lyon (3-1, 84th).
In a period with four matches in ten days and a match against AJA interposed between the two European quarter -final games against Manchester United, coach Paulo Fonseca had announced that he would make several changes.
After its European trip on Thursday, OL will play the derby in Saint-Etienne on Sunday.
– Fonseca turned –
Thus, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Clinton Mata and Nicolas Tagliafico were replacements, supplemented by Saël Kumbedi, Duje Caleta-Car and Vinicius Abner in defense just like Paul Akouokou and Jordan Veretout, holders against MU, were left on the bench.
Nemanja Matic, who had not played against the Red Devils, was this time kick-off, associated in the midfield at Corentin Tolisso in a 4-4-2 with Cherki and Thiago Almada on the sides and Mikautadze and Lacazette at the forefront.
These two goals rewarded the Lyonnais who had the best opportunities for the first period. Léon notably intervened on a shot from Rayan Cherki in the 9th minute.
The Auxerrois porter also interposed in front of Lacazette who, in the same action touched the post before Sanaly Diomandé and Jubal save their team on the league (25th).
Finally, Lacazette failed again against Léon shortly after (31). At the end of the match, the Auxerrois goalkeeper still diverted a good shot from Mikautadze (75).
For their part, the Icaunais, who remain in the tenth row of the ranking, assured of the maintenance with a good margin of security of eleven points on the barragist (Le Havre), were not threatening, in addition to their goal, on an action of Sinayoko (4) and a teenage shot ONAIWU diverted by the goalkeeper Lucas Perri (14) even if they have never closed the game.
fjt/goes
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