SEVEN-TIMES FRENCH champions Lyon ended their wait for a first Ligue 1 victory of the season by beating 10-man Rennes on Sunday as fellow strugglers Clermont and Metz also won.
Irishman Jake O’Brien rose highest to nod in the goal that gave Lyon their first win this term on 67 minutes, after Rennes lost Guela Doue, sent off for a dangerous tackle just five minutes into the match.
O’Brien made history last month when he earned his full debut for Lyon, becoming the first Irishman to feature in the French top flight since Tony Cascarino with Nancy in 2000.
The Cork native, who arrived at Lyon from Crystal Palace in a €1 million deal in August, followed that up with his first goal for the side on Sunday.
“We managed to play a great game, we left our hearts on the pitch and everything we had in our bellies,” said Lyon coach Fabio Grosso.
Faced with ten men, Lyon struggled to break down the 12th-placed side and a tetchy first half ended on a sour note with an altercation between Rennes coach Bruno Genesio, a former Lyon player and coach, and a member of the Lyon staff.
The second half was closely contested but offered up few big chances, until the decisive moment of the match arrived 22 minutes after the break.
Sael Kumbedi’s cross found the head of O’Brien who finally gave Lyon the breakthrough.
Despite some nervy moments at the end, when ‘keeper Anthony Lopes came to their rescue, Grosso’s men clung on to their first win of the Ligue 1 season.
Lyon remain bottom, but the result pushes them to seven points.
Although, the Italian said that he was “not happy today”, but would only be “happy in the end when I, hopefully, get the club out of this situation”.
Premier but pour Jake O'Brien 👊🔴🔵#SRFCOL pic.twitter.com/qcl5D58c89
— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) November 12, 2023
Earlier on Sunday, Lille moved up to fourth after a 1-1 draw at home to Toulouse. Leny Yoro opened the scoring for the hosts after half an hour, only for the 2021 league champions to be pegged back by Thijs Dallinga, who got his third in three matches after netting against Le Havre and Liverpool.
Lyon’s fellow strugglers Clermont also gained an important win at home against Lorient, who sit in 16th spot.
Shamar Nicholson’s penalty, in the 69th minute, was enough to seal his side’s second win of the season, lifting them to nine points.
Metz escaped from the relegation play-off position with a 3-1 home victory over Nantes. Kevin Van Den Kerkhof gave the hosts an early lead, but Moses Simon cancelled it out with 12 minutes gone.
Simon Elisor restored the Metz lead just before the half-hour and Joel Asoro secured the three points in the 85th minute as Metz moved up to 11th.
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