Leppenant and Lacazette help Lyon past Ajaccio
Having continued their good results from before the World Cup with a win here against Angers, Ajaccio have since slumped to three consecutive league defeats, including a 7-1 thumping at Monaco.
The visitors have failed to improve since Laurent Blanc’s appointment in October, culminating in a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to strugglers Strasbourg in the last round.
The Ajaccio fans perhaps saw Lyon’s form as an opportunity to get a surprise result, and they were delighted to see their side on the front foot from kick off.
Youcef Belaili, having scored five in his last six Ligue 1 outings, was pulling the strings, and orchestrated a flurry of early chances.
Anthony Lopes was in imperious form, however, and showed sharp reflexes to deny both Vincent Marchetti and Mounaim El Idrissy in the opening 15 minutes.
Despite the fast start for Olivier Pantaloni’s side, it would be Lyon who would snatch the first goal. Bradley Barcola and Maxence Caqueret combined well on the left-hand side, and the former pulled it back for a completely open Lepenant, who could simply slot the ball past a helpless Francois-Joseph Sollacaro.
The setback seemed to knock Ajaccio’s confidence, and Barcola had a chance to double his team’s lead shortly after, if not for the one-on-one reflexes of Sollacaro.
The Corsican side came out of the break with renewed vigour, and began to beat Lyon to every ball, particularly in the air. Bevic Moussiti-Oko manoeuvred his way in behind, but his attempt was again stopped by the goalkeeper.
From the resulting corner, Belaili came even closer, as he rose highest to thump a header against the post.
However, their momentum was once again halted by the visitors, who produced a well worked attack with Nicolas Tagliafico making it to the byline and squaring it to Lacazette who doubled the lead with the easiest of finishes.
Ajaccio’s poor finishing continued for the remainder of the game, and they were unable to find an answer to Lyon’s lead.
A fourth straight defeat for L’ours sees them slip further away from safety in Ligue 1, as they look to escape this season’s perilous four-team relegation zone.
Despite the win, the Lyon faithful will be less than impressed with their team’s performance, and Laurent Blanc’s tenure will continue to be under scrutiny.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Anthony Lopes (Lyon)