The Lyonnais, reduced to ten three minutes after conceding a goal before the break, lost to the Merlus (1-0) and remained far from the podium.
Bad operation for OL. The Rhone club missed the opportunity to come back to two points from the podium, losing on the Lorient pitch (1-0). Les Gones, long reduced to ten in this closing match of the 15th day, confirmed their current difficulties on the road. In the other half of the table, the Merlus take advantage of this second consecutive victory in the championship to get some fresh air, six steps ahead of the red zone.
Pagis punit l’OL
For his big return to the Lyon bench, after nine months of suspension, Paulo Fonseca saw, very closely, his men go through it. OL, once again positioned three at the back, held the ball well, but their domination remained sterile for a long time, facing Merlus who were solid and sharp on the counterattack. The Bretons finally made the difference during a very lively end of the first period. Pagis took it upon himself to punish Lyon’s inadequacies. A few moments after sending a sublime free kick onto the post (35th), the new darling of Moustoir took advantage of an oversight by the Rhone defense to open the scoring from close range (1-0, 39th). A huge blow to the head of the Gones, who could also have taken the advantage on a double opportunity magnificently annihilated by Mvogo (36th). The Lyonnais returned to the locker room with a goal behind. And one player less, following the expulsion of Maitland-Niles for two yellow cards (37th, 42nd).
Skip the ad
The Moustoir in celebration, Mvogo as a hero
The Lorient ultras chose the right match to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary. In a sold-out and very festive Moustoir, even a little too much given the number of smoke bombs and fireworks in the stands, the Merlus seemed very calm for a long time with eleven against ten in the second half. Their end to the match was nevertheless much more difficult, against the Lyonnais who played their part in the last quarter of an hour. Installed in the Breton camp, the Gones pushed to snatch a draw that looked like a miracle. But as in the first period, Mvogo was able to pull out all the stops to relieve his team and keep his clean sheet (79th, 84th, 88th). Despite several wasted break points during a disjointed end to the match (85th, 90th+6), Lorient was easily satisfied with this short prestigious victory. Faced with an OL still incapable of stringing together good results this season.
