Les Gones found victory again, and relaunched themselves by winning on the Moustoir field against Lorient (2-0), on the occasion of the 25th day of Ligue 1. Tagliafico (52nd), then the surprise Baldé (65th) starting for the first time since November 12, allowed their teammates to win by two goals. Lyon’s very good momentum driven by Pierre Sage came to a halt last week against Lens (3-0). But with this success, OL got back on track quickly, confirming their recent good performances.
Even if the Lyonnais entered their meeting much better than the Merlus, the Gones lacked realism. With possession of the ball from the start, Pierre Sage’s players took their time to unbalance the Merlus block. But the Lorientais, confident after their success against Rennes last week, remained united. Mvogo proved impassable on his line to keep his people afloat. After a difficult first few minutes, the Merlus finally managed to project themselves and proved dangerous in a few counter situations. But the local centers fled the Lyon area each time.
Once the game was balanced, the pace calmed down and the two teams finally returned to the locker room with a parity score (0-0). Returning with much better intentions, the Lorientais looked forward to these first minutes of the second half. Captain Laurent Abergel saw the ball arrive at his feet at the entrance to the penalty area. Alone in the middle, the 31-year-old midfielder decided to strike in force but his attempt as well as Breton hopes flew into the skies of Moustoir. Behind, the Lyonnais finally showed themselves to be realistic and took advantage of the numerous errors of their opponents. On a precise cross from Clinton Mata, left-back Nicolas Tagliafico placed an angry header under the Lorient bar (0-1, 52nd).
Stunned by this goal against the run of play, Régis Le Bris’ men were unable to move forward. They then endured the waves of Lyon until they broke down. On her last ball touched in this meeting, Mama Baldé, who had the difficult task of replacing Alexandre Lacazette in attack, dribbled past the opposing goalkeeper to score the break goal (0-2, 64th). Dejected, the Merlus could not find the mental and physical resources to return to heights. Despite some flashes of breakthroughs, the Breton fans present in the stands witnessed another defeat for Merlus.
With this success, the Gones move up a little further in the rankings while the Lorientais plunge more than ever into the race to maintain their position for this end of the season.