Updated at 20.34
IRISH DEFENDER Jake O’Brien made his second Ligue 1 start for Lyon today.
The 22-year-old joined the French club from Crystal Palace in August, having impressed last season in the Belgian second tier with RWD Molenbeek.
There was initial speculation that O’Brien could be sent on loan, but the former Cork City youngster has impressed sufficiently to make the first-team breakthrough.
The circumstances are less than ideal, with Lyon struggling, as they sit second from bottom in the table.
Ex-Man United defender Laurent Blanc, who signed O’Brien, recently departed the manager’s role, with Fabio Grosso succeeding him.
The former Italy international handed O’Brien a debut in the 2-0 loss to Reims last weekend, and the ex-Irish U21 international made another start today, lining up at the back alongside ex-Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren.
However, it was another frustrating afternoon for O’Brien and co.
Having gone behind early on, a brace from former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette and another from Ghana international Ernest Nuamah saw them lead 3-1 at the break.
Nonetheless, second-half goals from Darlin Yongwa and Eli Junior Kroupi meant the points were shared, with Lorient remaining two places above their rivals in the table.
Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku continued his fast start to life in a Roma shirt with a brace in Sunday’s 4-1 win at Serie A’s bottom side Cagliari which took his all-competitions goal tally to seven.
Belgium forward Lukaku chested Roma two ahead in the 20th minute, seconds after Houssem Aouar had swept the away side into the lead against a Cagliari team yet to register a win since being promoted.
And he completed the scoring for Roma, who sit 10th on 11 points, just before the hour mark in a simple win in Sardinia with a lovely finish from Leandro Paredes’ first-time pass, his fifth league strike of the campaign so far.
Lukaku signed for Roma on loan from Chelsea at the end of the summer transfer window and he has made an instant impact, even if Roma’s inconsistent results had led to speculation that Jose Mourinho could be sacked.
“I’m a professional. I worked during the summer,” said Lukaku to DAZN.
“People talk about me but I don’t talk, I show on the pitch what I can do for the team.”
On Saturday, the Corriere Dello Sport reported that Mourinho would be shown the door if his team failed to win at Cagliari, although a source denied to AFP that Roma were thinking of firing their coach or had spoken to former Germany and Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick.
In any case, Sunday’s victory was their third in three games since the 4-1 hammering at Genoa late last month which enraged supporters, and their first away win in Italy’s top flight this season.
Andrea Belotti netted Roma’s other, brilliant goal eight minutes before Lukaku’s second when he collected Paredes’ lofted pass and skinned Gabriele Zappa before drilling home a fine low finish.
Belotti had replaced Paulo Dybala five minutes before half-time as the Argentina forward left the field in tears following a heavy challenge with Matteo Prati, who thwacked a tackle into his knee.
Mourinho will now be sweating on the condition of star man Dybala, even if Lukaku and Belotti have shown themselves to be a more than capable strike partnership.
“I’ve had the good fortune to play with some great players since I came to Italy… I hope he can come back soon because he’s our most important player,” said Lukaku.
- Vecino boosts Lazio -
Lazio are a point behind their local rivals Roma in 13th after Matias Vecino struck late to secure a 3-2 win for Lazio over Atalanta.
Uruguay midfielder Vecino lashed in a superb volley from Valentin Castellanos’ knockdown in the 83rd minute in Rome, his second goal in as many games after also scoring in Wednesday’s Champions League win at Celtic.
The substitute’s strike saved Lazio’s blushes as they had thrown away a two-goal lead established by Charles De Ketelaere’s early own goal and Castellanos’ first goal for the club in the 11th minute.
Two free headers either side of half-time from Ederson and Sead Kolasinac drew Atalanta level but Vecino made sure of Lazio’s third win of the Serie A season and 12th spot on 10 points, six away from the bottom three.
Lazio finished second behind runaway league winners Napoli last term but have had a bad start to the campaign which has been marked by tensions between coach Maurizio Sarri and owner Claudio Lotito.
“Vecino is scoring big goals and solving problems,” said Sarri.
“He played really well midweek and even though I thought it was best to only give him some of the game today he made a big impact.”
Atalanta sit sixth on 13 points, a single point ahead of surprise packages Monza and Frosinone, who respectively beat Salernitana 3-0 and Verona 2-1.
Later, champions Napoli try to stay in touch with leaders AC Milan, when they host high-flying Fiorentina.
Rudi Garcia’s side sit fourth, level on 14 points with Sunday’s opponents and need a win over the Tuscans in order to keep the gap between them and Milan at four points.
In Germany, Kingsley Coman’s double helped Bayern Munich stay two points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen as the reigning champions beat Freiburg 3-0 at home on Sunday.
With Leverkusen winning 3-0 against Cologne to go five points clear of the Bavarians just moments before kick-off, Bayern responded immediately and were 2-0 up at half-time.
Coman looped a cross goalwards looking for Harry Kane in the 12th minute but the ball drifted over Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu and into the goal.
Leroy Sane scored Bayern’s second 25 minutes in, playing a pass to Kane on the left and slamming the England captain’s return ball into the net.
The duo are building an impressive partnership, with five of Sane’s seven goals this season assisted by the former Tottenham striker.
The former Manchester City winger had the ball in the net again on the stroke of half-time, lifting a dipping shot over Atubolu, but the stunning strike was chalked off by VAR for offside.
Coman scored again with five minutes remaining and once more had a slice of luck, his shot taking a big deflection to evade the outstretched arms of Atubolu.
A smiling Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel told DAZN the game was “very good, from beginning to end we concentrated well.”
Tuchel said Bayern had given Kane, who did not score but laid on an assist, more playmaking responsibility.
“Both our number 10s were very high today, we pushed Harry back a little bit so that he was better integrated in the game.”
Freiburg coach Christian Streich said his side “had no chance today”.
“I’m happy that it finished 3-0, because there could certainly have been more goals,” he added.
Bayern will head into the international break in third, while Freiburg — who narrowly missed out on the top four last season — sit in midtable, with 10 points after seven matches.
- Leverkusen dominant -
Earlier on Sunday, Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen continued their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable win over derby rivals Cologne.
Leverkusen were superb in attack, goals from Jonas Hofmann, Jeremie Frimpong and Victor Boniface taking the side to a dominant victory against their struggling opponents.
“When you see how hard we’re working daily, week after week, we’ve changed our mentality. We fight and we run,” said midfielder Granit Xhaka.
“It all looks beautiful… but it’s not easy.”
A World Cup winner with Spain as a player in 2010, Alonso’s influence on Leverkusen was clear in the home side’s first goal, Hofmann finishing off a slick team move for the opener.
Boniface slid the ball to Alex Grimaldo on the left flank, the Spain defender finding Florian Wirtz who back-heeled for Hofmann to score his sixth goal in 10 games since moving from Gladbach in the summer.
“It’s been a great honour to get to know him,” added Xhaka of Alonso.
“He’s so hungry for success, for perfection — and you see that on the field.”
Leverkusen doubled their advantage shortly afterwards, Grimaldo threading a ball across the face of goal for Frimpong to tap home.
Boniface scored Leverkusen’s third midway through the second half, turning in an inch-perfect pass from Hofmann from close range to make it seven goals in seven league appearances this season.
Boniface had a chance to score a second late in the match, but skewed his shot just wide.
Leverkusen have now won nine of their 10 matches in all competitions this season, only dropping points in a pulsating 2-2 draw at Bayern.
The loss leaves Cologne stranded alone at the bottom of the table, with just one point.
Additional reporting by AFP
