Lyon starts off on the right foot by defeating Olympiakos

A successful return to the European scene for Lyon. The Rhone club logically won 2-0 at the expense of the Greek club Olympiakos Piraeus, Thursday September 26, at Groupama Stadium, during the first day of the Europa League.

Olympique Lyonnais (OL) left the C3 on April 14, 2022, with a 3-0 home defeat to the English team of West Ham in a quarter-final second leg concluded on incidents caused by the Lyon ultras which were worth to the French club to be sanctioned with a closed session in its north and south turns.

Thus, only 24,414 spectators were present in the enclosure to see, on Thursday, Lyon dominate a low-level Greek team and against which Pierre Sage’s men still struggled throughout a soporific first period marked by numerous approximations on both sides. and others.

Cherki’s thunderous return

But Rayan Cherki is also making a thunderous return: the 21-year-old is finding a place of choice in the Lyon team, after being left out this summer pending a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, Dortmund or Fulham which never concluded.

Already a scorer on Sunday against Marseille despite the 3-2 defeat in Ligue 1, it was he, served by Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who opened the scoring with a powerful shot despite a tight angle (1-0, 65^e). Shortly after his goal, he was replaced by Saïd Benrahma who made the score 2-0 (71^e) after a service from Wilfried Zaha, a last-minute transfer window recruit who came into play at the same time as the Algerian international.

Before these two goals, a shot from Alexandre Lacazette, still looking for his first achievement this season, hit the post (48^e). David Carmo failed to score against his side (52^e) while Ernest Nuamah was blocked by Lorenzo Pirola (59^e). Goalkeeper Kostas Tzolakis saved his team twice in front of Tolisso (59^e64^e), which he had already defeated in the first period (26^e).

“The right way to go”

For its part, Olympiakos was ordinary. In addition to a shot from Rodinei in the first period which was blocked by the Lyon goalkeeper, Lucas Perri (32^e), the Greek team was only dangerous due to an action by Roman Yaremchuk blocked at the last minute by Duje Caleta-Car (49^e) who scored against his camp on a cross from Willian, a goal canceled for offside (89^e).

This deserved success – the second of the season after that against Strasbourg (4-3) in Ligue 1 – allows OL to breathe after a sluggish start to the championship (14^e in the ranking) which has already seen him lose three times.

It is “a good remedy compared to the two painful experiences for OL against Lens [0-0] and Marseille [défaite 3-2 malgré une supériorité numérique dès la 5^e minute]“, estimated the Lyon coach, Pierre Sage. “This is an evolution and the right way forward”he congratulated himself.

In this new Europa League formula which brings together 36 clubs, OL, sixth, is in the first half of the ranking, and will try to confirm on the road on October 3 in Glasgow against Rangers, also 2-0 winners over the Swedes. from Malmö. But first, the Lyonnais will have to confirm in Toulouse, Sunday in Ligue 1, in order to know if their season has finally really started.