Not very precise for an hour, Olympique Lyonnais ended up finding the key to Olympiakos’ defense and won 2-0, a result which could prove crucial in Lyon’s season and in its course in the Europa League.
We had to go back to April 14, 2022 to find traces of a European match of the Olympique Lyonnaisa Europa League quarter-final second leg lost against West Ham. It is in this competition that OL made their return, starting this evening in a partially closed Groupama Stadium for the reception of the Olympiakos, the last winner of the Europa Conference League.
Very quickly, Lyon tried to wrap up the match, notably with a first strike signed Alexandre Lacazette (3rd). Well positioned in the Greek camp, OL nevertheless struggled to create real chances. Lots of dangerous crosses, percussion but average construction and some form of Rayan Cherki quite indigestible dependence.
Opposite, the Greeks had difficulty existing, since they were severely deprived of the ball. Lyon continued to dominate, notably on a strike from Ernest Nuamah (21st), before a huge opportunity in the form of a face-to-face poorly wasted by Rayan Cherki (24th). Fatefully, Olympiakos gained confidence, and Lucas Perri had to work for the first time on a beautiful strike signed Rodinei (32e).
In figures, Lyon’s first period was successful: more than 60% of ball possession, 8 shots, but always a bit of slow control or a poorly assured pass to spoil the few interesting initiatives. Nothing to brag about during the break (0-0), but at least there was room to do much better afterwards.
Which was close to happening in less than three minutes, when Lacazette found the post on a blocked shot, which finally woke up this half-stadium, who were screaming a few moments later about a contentious situation around Malick Fofana in the surface. In the process, Lucas Perri A high-level reflex save came out, and the match could finally begin.
Lyon’s pressure then intensified, on a header of Corentin Tolisso in particular, before a huge opportunity to this same Tolissowho chained control and strikes supersonically but stumbled on a Konstantinos Tzolakis inspired. Olympiakos had to end up breaking and was going to break when Cherki finally played against his opposite number to send a heavy shot under the bar and deliver Groupama Stadium (65th).
Olympiakos had no choice and attacked, failing to equalize in the process when Marko Stamenic brushed against the frame on a sumptuous flip. But the Greeks discovered themselves, and Lyon quickly took advantage when Said Benrahmabarely entered in place of Cherki, was found in depth and won his face-to-face to knock out the visitors and put OL on the verge of victory (71st).
In six minutes, Lyon had dug the hole and pushed Olympiakos into it. Or so we thought. Because the Greeks seemed amorphous but missed benefiting from an incredible stroke of luck, when Duje Caleta-Car deflected a harmless cross into his net at the dawn of stoppage time. Fortunately, VAR came to the rescue of the Lyonnais, and sealed the fate of the match for good.
Olympique Lyonnais therefore wins 2-0 and signals its return to the European scene in the most beautiful way. Of course, everything is far from perfect, but this type of match can certainly mark the start of an improvement. It remains to be confirmed, but in any case, Les Gones’ Europa League campaign is off to a perfect start.
