PLAYER RATINGS | Nantes 1 -3 Lyon: Super-subs complete the comeback for OL and move them into European contention | OneFootball

Ligue 1’s Sunday night offering offered lockdown football flashbacks as no fans were in attendance for the match between Nantes and Lyon at the Stade de la Beaujoire. Both teams were looking to maintain momentum after securing victories in their last matches.

It was Nantes who created the first stirring of noise in what was the echoing chasm of the Stade de la Beaujoire by scoring the match’s opening goal. Matthis Abline met Florent Mollet’s early cross in the area by escaping Ćaleta-Car easily and expertly heading the ball beyond Lopes in the Lyon goal. Nantes hit the front against the run of the play. Despite being the dominant force for most of the first half, OL found themselves behind at the break.

Lyon continued to struggle to gain any advantage in the match after the resumption of the match. Nantes seemed to take initiative after the break with some positive chances but failed to double their lead. With the clock ticking down, Lacazette, like in previous matches, once again found a way to drag Lyon level. Lafont did brilliantly to parry away two shots from Benrahma and Fofana in quick succession but the former’s shot was parried into the path of the OL captain who made it third time lucky for Lyon with his effort.

Malick Fofana was subbed on in the second half and within the space of two minutes he had made an instant impact. It was his shot which was parried into the path of Lacazette to level the game and then just two minutes later with his second shot, the winger gave Lyon the lead. Some brilliant work from Cherki allowed Maitland-Niles to release the ball to the Belgian, who hit his shot first time and gave Lafont no chance as his effort nestled into the bottom corner.

Gift Orban got involved for his first Ligue 1 goal in the final minutes of the match with Mama Baldé escaping in behind on the counter before playing it across the six-yard box where Orban was waiting to turn the ball home. The Nigerian made no mistake to complete the comeback and win the match for OL.

Lyon player ratings:

Anthony Lopes – 6

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 5, Attacking and defensive balance can be a problem for some full backs, and Matiland-Niles could be one of those players. He struggled at times defensively but he continued to press-on during the match and assisted Fofana for his goal.

Duje Ćaleta-Car – 5

Jake O’Brien – 5

Nicolás Tagliafico – 6

Nemanja Matić – 6

Maxence Caqueret – 6

Corentin Tolisso – 5

Ernest Nuamah – 5

Alexandre Lacazette – 7, The Lyon captain once again was the man to pull his team out of a difficult situation, his poacher-like goal was the fire to kickstart the OL comeback. Nevertheless, his efforts extended much further than throughout the night even when creativity was lacking, the forward took means into his own hands to create his own openings.

Saïd Benrahma – 5

Malick Fofana (Substitute) – 7, Super-sub. In the space of two minutes,he changed the game for the visitors. His shot was pivotal in Lacazette scoring the leveller and then he superbly took his second shot of the game to give Lyon the lead.  Talk about an instant impact.

GFFN | Liam Wraith