Butts: Cherki (65e) and Benrahma (71e)
Bring down a reigning European champion. This is a great way to celebrate a new invitation to the European feast after two seasons of diet for Olympique Lyonnais. In front of barely more than 25,000 people, the fault of two sanctioned and closed corners, the Gones looked for a long time to find the fault against this Olympiakos in difficulty, before making the difference in the last half hour thanks to Rayan Cherki and Saïd Benrahma . In a disappointing start to the season so far, Pierre Sage and his men are launching their continental adventure perfectly.
To dominate is not to score
For the 37e European campaign in its history, Olympique Lyonnais is determined to take matters into its own hands from the start. Alexandre Lacazette lights a first fuse in the first minutes, out of frame. OL are in control, Rayan Cherki is in charge, but OL are waiting for their first real opportunities. And when Ernest Nuamah finally hits the target, it’s too crushed, while Corentin Tolisso sees the angle close after yet another projection into the opponent’s area. Frustration begins to show, and it even takes a nice horizontal from Lucas Perri on an attempt by Rodinei to avoid disaster. If their mastery suggests that the trauma of the Olympico on Sunday evening has already been digested, the Gones must wait to make the recent winner of the Conference League give in.
Revenge of the Banished
The start of the second half offers three minutes of madness to the public at Groupama Stadium. Lacazette first found the post, then Malick Fofana claimed a penalty without managing to make Mr. Visser flinch. A hundred meters further, it was Roman Yaremchuk who imagined he could finally unlock the scoreboard at close range, but was blocked by his own teammate Ayoub El-Kaabi. Konstantínos Tzolákis played the hero in front of Tolisso at the heart of a new outbreak of Rhone fever, but the Greek defense ended up cracking under the onslaught. The hero is Cherki, who raises the decibels with a winning shot from a tight angle after a number in the box (1-0, 65e). The ketchup can finally start flowing thanks also to the entrants, Wilfried Zaha sending Benrahma breaker a magnificent exterior in space for its grand premiere (2-0, 71e). Saved from a reduction in the score against his camp by Duje Ćaleta-Car by a preliminary offside from Willian, OL therefore begin this regular phase of the Europa League with a success and a good dressing.
Relive OL-Olympiakos (2-0)
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