Poorly classified, Lou took a big breath of fresh air by narrowly winning against Montpellier at home on the 11th day of Top 14. A 20-18 victory which could have gone in favor of the visitors but Carbonnel missed a drop at the last second of the match while he was facing the posts. Each team scored two tries, a first penalty for the Lyonnais in the 17th before another from Niniashvili (22nd) in favor of Lou. Montpellier flattened by Karkadze (27th) and Carbonel (36th).
The Lyonnais started the match perfectly by scoring the first 10 points, taking advantage of the opponent’s indiscipline, punished by two yellow cards in less than two minutes. At 13 against 15, LOU had free rein to widen the gap in this important match for maintenance. Niniashvili perfectly exploited this numerical advantage by giving LOU a 14-point lead (17-3, 22nd).
But the visitors reacted ideally despite the numerical inferiority with two deserved tries. First with Karkadze (27th) then with a sublime inspiration from Louis Carbonel who pierced the Lyon defense (34th). At the break, the MHR players were only 2 points behind the LOU players (17-15).
But in the second half, it was the Lyonnais who were much more comfortable but it was Carbonel and his teammates who regained the advantage (43rd). Less sharp, the MHR players did not really worry the locals who were not necessarily very inspired. Paddy Jackson converted a penalty which allowed Lyon to get back in front (20-18, 53rd).
To be sure of winning, Lou’s men pushed hard while showing a certain helplessness as they approached the opposing testing area. Lyon remained at the mercy of a Montpellier penalty. In a final action after the siren, Louis Carbonel even had the drop of victory at the tip of his foot but his attempt fled the poles. Lyon won at the end of the suspense and breathes a little easier on Saturday evening.
