The match: 3-1
OL is therefore not completely cured. After three consecutive victories in Ligue 1, Olympique Lyonnais, still convalescing, relapsed this Sunday on the Le Havre lawn. Pierre Sage’s players lost (1-3) during the 18th day of Ligue 1, finishing the match with nine men after the expulsions of Jake O’Brien (28th) and Duje Caleta-Car (90th).
After starting its year with a success in the Coupe de France against Caen (2-1), Le Havre confirmed this good start by opening the scoring through Gautier Lloris, following a corner from Christopher Opéri (18th). Reduced to ten men in the 28th minute following O’Brien’s sole on Kouziaïev, OL returned to the locker room at the break with just one goal behind and the hope of turning the game around after the break. But it was the locals who hit the nail on the head. Emmanuel Sabbi took advantage of the passivity of the Lyon defense to send Lopes to find the ball in his net for the second time in the afternoon (49th). OL regained hope when Alexandre Lacazette, perfectly served by Rayan Cherki, reduced the gap (54th), but it was short-lived. After playing Cherki and despite Lacazette, returning to defend, Opéri scored a superb goal from the left to make the break again (62nd).
Already eleventh before this 18th day, La Havre does not move in the ranking. On the other hand, OL slipped one place and moved to the play-off position because of a worse goal difference than Metz, beaten at home by Toulouse (0-1).
OL finished the match nine against eleven after seeing their two starting central defenders sent off, but the red card of Jake O’Brien (28th) had more negative consequences than that of Duje Caleta-Car (90th). The Irish defender started the match with a foul on Josué Casimir which could have already earned him a warning if the Le Havre attacker had not been flagged offside (4th).
O’Brien ultimately didn’t even spend half an hour on the pitch, confirming that he wasn’t having a great night. After hitting Daler Kouziaïev with a kick just under the knee, O’Brien first received a yellow card. Then Gaël Angoula, the referee of the match, checked the action using VAR and the color of the card changed. The player, not always very reliable defensively, left his teammates with ten for over an hour. At the end of the match, Caleta-Car also received a red card, which forced Pierre Sage to launch his Brazilian defender Adryelson, recruited this winter, who entered in place of Cherki.
The player: Lloris weighs down OL
Already a scorer on the first day in Montpellier (2-2), Gautier Lloris scored his second goal of the season, with a header, taking advantage of Nicolas Tagliafico marking too wide from a corner. Hugo’s little brother, former OL goalkeeper, once again proved decisive by finding Emmanuel Sabbi with a very nice opening on the second Le Havre goal (50th). He also made a decisive clearance in front of Tolisso (74th), in addition to an overall solid match.
30
Lyon have conceded 30 goals after 18 matches in Ligue 1 2023/24, their highest total at this stage since 1979/80 (32 – maintained via a play-off at the end of the season). (Opta)
