Lyon beaten in final league game at Gerland
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| AFP |
Lyon lurched further into crisis as they went down 2-0 to Angers to ruin what was their last ever Ligue 1 match at the Stade de Gerland.
Cheikh N'Doye scored both goals for the visitors from headers either side of half-time as the promoted club built on a goalless draw at home to Paris Saint-Germain in midweek to continue their remarkable season and move into second spot. But Lyon have now taken just one point from their last four league games and, coupled with their limp exit from the UEFA Champions League, that form has left coach Hubert Fournier under huge pressure. OL president Jean-Michel Aulas has not been shy to express his displeasure with recent performances and this latest display was particularly painful as it came on such a special occasion for the club.
"We will meet, talk, try to think about things and not get carried away," Aulas told beIN Sports when pressed about the coach's future.
"Our recent performances have been catastrophic and even today there was not much of a reaction. That is the most worrying and frightening thing," Mathieu Valbuena told Canal Plus. "The players are 100 per cent responsible. The coach tries to put out the best team possible. It is easy to blame him."
After 65 years at Gerland, Lyon will move into a new 59,000-capacity stadium in January and a host of former players were invited to take to the field before kick-off to mark their final Ligue 1 outing at the old ground. Brazilian duo Sonny Anderson and Juninho Pernambucano, who played as the club won an unprecedented seven consecutive titles in the last decade, were among those present and watched the game alongside the Lyon ultras massed behind the goal. But the match itself was further proof that all is not well at last season's runners-up.
Fournier pushed Valbuena right up front alongside Alexandre Lacazette and handed a top-flight debut to teenager Lucas Tousart in midfield, and yet the changes could not prevent another defeat. Angers took the lead from their first chance just before the midway point in the first half, N'Doye rising high above Bakary Kone to head in a Thomas Mangani free-kick.
N'Doye then flashed another header just wide from a Gilles Sunu set-piece delivery and Anthony Lopes saved from Sunu to keep Lyon in the game going into the interval. There was a response from the hosts after the restart and Valbuena crashed a shot off the bar before substitute Clement Grenier set up Lacazette to put the ball in the net only for the offside flag to cut short the celebrations.
But it was to be N'Doye who had the honour of scoring the last Ligue 1 goal at the old stadium as he made sure of the win for Angers with his and his side's second nine minutes from the end. The 29-year-old Senegalese midfielder, who had never played in the top flight before this season, has been a revelation captaining the unfancied Angers. N'Doye was left unchallenged to head in a corner from the left as Angers moved into second place above Caen, who lost 2-1 at home to a resurgent Lille, Yassine Benzia scoring twice for the visitors.
Lyon, who will play one last game at Gerland in the Coupe de la Ligue later this month, lost their place in the top four to Monaco, who won 2-1 at Bastia thanks to a Lacina Traore double.
Benjamin Jeannot netted twice for Lorient in a 3-2 victory at Toulouse, while Gazelec Ajaccio are unbeaten in seven after a 1-1 draw with Nantes and bottom club Troyes are still without a win this season after a 1-1 draw at Reims.
Leaders PSG are 15 points clear of Angers after continuing their unbeaten start to the domestic season with a 3-0 win at Nice on Friday. Edinson Cavani put the capital club ahead before Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted twice, including one from the penalty spot, to become PSG's all-time leading scorer in the top flight with 87 goals.