Lyon stay cool in Champagne country to beat Troyes
Whistles rang out at the Groupama stadium on Wednesday as Lyon equalled their worst total at this stage of the season, when they could only manage a 0-0 draw against lowly Brest. However they were still fancied to further extend a four-match unbeaten away streak, even with early chances proving sparse. Although the visitors had been relatively quiet during the first half, a solitary moment of quality from Lyon saw Maxence Caqueret latch onto Yoann Salmier’s ball out from defence, before he then delivered to Barcola, who slotted home a maiden Ligue 1 goal on his 23rd top-flight appearance.
The goal sparked ESTAC into action, and they almost found an equaliser in the few minutes prior to HT through Xavier Chavalerin, who was flagged marginally offside after finishing well on the break. The home side pushed hard for a leveller moments after the restart, with top scorer Mama Baldé going close, but down the other end another defensive giveaway allowed Cherki to deliver what he thought was the killer blow. Upon picking up the ball, he waltzed through a statuesque ESTAC defence before toe-poking beyond Gauthier Gallon to make it 2-0.
Lyon coach Laurent Blanc immediately brought about a triple substitution to consolidate his team's position, but it had the opposite effect, as Rony Lopes walked onto an Andreas Bruus cut back and fired past the helpless figure of Anthony Lopes to set up a grandstand finish. Alexandre Lacazette could have put the game to bed for Les Gones soon after, only to miss, but he made amends for that by rifling home in the dying moments, leaving the finally-beaten ESTAC looking over their shoulder at a potential bottom four berth by the end of Sunday’s action.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bradley Barcola (Olympique Lyonnais)