What if Lyon brightened up its sad season with an adventure in the Coupe de France? After having relapsed in L1 on Sunday at Le Havre (3-1) and before facing Rennes then OM, Pierre Sage’s team gave itself a little smile by winning (2-1) against Bergerac at Limoges. Serious if not sovereign, the current Ligue 1 play-off player trembled to the end against the 9th in group B of National who had reached the quarter-finals (eliminated by Versailles) in 2022.
If Lyon, which began to confiscate the ball, had logically opened the score (0-1, 37th) thanks to the first goal in its new colors from the Belgian Malick Fofana (18 years old) who was transferred for 17 million euros from Gantoise on January 10, Bergerac came back to the score just before half-time (1-1, 45th + 2). A goal inevitably rich in emotion for Romain Escarpit, passed to U19 by OL who did not keep it afterwards.
Lopes’ decisive save
In the second period, Bergerac found itself down to ten men after the yellow card received by Christian Gyeboaho for a big foul on Corentin Tolisso (65th). If goalkeeper Pierre Laborde-Turon was decisive on a rebound from Alexandre Lacazette (69th), it was Anthony Lopes who certainly made the save which changed the course of the match by repelling Steven’s point-blank shot Luyambula Biwa (74th). The turning point of this round of 16.
On a stupidly conceded free kick, Maxence Caqueret’s recovery puts OL back in front (1-2, 78th). In the 89th minute, Bergerac claimed a penalty for a charge on Ducros in the area. But Mr. Batta did not flinch…
“We obviously have frustration. Expulsion weakens us. I would have liked to see my team at 11 until the end. But there is pride too. We had defined a path, we respected it,” underlines Yassine Azahaf, the Bergerac coach at the microphone of BeIN Sports.
“It was a complicated match against a good Bergerac team. We didn’t only do good things but we had the right mentality to get this victory. If we manage to keep this mentality and this courage, we can go far,” says Maxence Caqueret.
