In the pouring rain at Groupama Stadium, OL won in style against Montpellier (5-2). By temporarily returning to 4 points from Monaco, the first European, Peter Bosz’s men keep a small hope of qualification while waiting for the end of this 34th day.
Olympique Lyonnais received Montpellier HSC at Groupama Stadium as part of the 34th day of Ligue 1. Without Lopes or Caqueret, the Gones had to relaunch in the league if they wanted to keep any hope in the race for Europe, n having won only one of their last 5 matches. For their part, in the event of a poor performance, the Pailladins could almost say goodbye to the first part of the table, which they had always occupied since the 2017/2018 season. To revive after four unsuccessful matches, Olivier Dall’Oglio associated Cabella and Savanier in the attacking quartet. On the OL side, Peter Bosz trusted Toko Ekambi to the left of his attack, back on the scoresheet after missing the trip to Brest.
The locals started this meeting more than well, quickly putting their foot on the ball to worry the Montpellier rearguard: the first alert came from the head of KTE, countered by that of Souquet (3rd). To compensate for the exit of Omlin, Ferri saved his teammates well near his line on the center set back from the Brazilian (6th). The two Brazilians were dangerous, without success: Tetê saw his shot deflected at the entrance to the area (9th) before being defeated by Omlin (10th), just like his compatriot Paqueta (13th). In front of Pollersbeck, Wahi missed the opportunity to surprise OL just in front of the line before making a mistake on the German goalkeeper (24th). Dembélé took advantage of the opposing defensive passivity to cross his shot and deceive the Swiss goalkeeper (1-0, 25th), to score his 12th goal in all competitions in 2022.
Lyon falls asleep but recovers
As a semblance of reaction, Montpellier reassured itself by keeping the ball on certain sequences, without disturbing the Lyon defense except for the center shot of Chotard, above the crossbar of Pollersbeck (31st). After Cabella’s good work on the left, Oyongo did not put enough power into his low shot, quietly captured (33rd). Savanier’s first inspiration came before the break, attempting a dive outside the zone of truth to hinder a vigilant Pollersbeck (39′). Finally, Mendes doubled the bet for his people on a free kick, well helped by an unfortunate Omlin (2-0, 43rd). In additional time, the Auriverde offered two goals to the visitors: first overtaken by Wahi, who beat the last rampart (2-1, 45 + 2nd), he offered a penalty after a hand in the area to Savanier , scorer at 11 meters (2-2, 45 + 3rd).
On returning from the locker room, the second period started off with a bang on both sides, with a dangerous center from Cabella before the counter concluded with the strike from Paqueta, boxed in by Omlin (46th). The Swiss stood out with a firm hand on the ground on the recovery of number 10 Lyon (52nd). Toko Ekambi then found the opposing left post, failing to materialize the good combination between Paqueta and Dembélé (55th). The highlight continued until the hour mark for Bosz’s men, who pushed the opponent back into their area but were faced with a level Omlin (60th). After good control oriented in the area, Aouar finally found the fault in the small left net (3-2, 63rd), imitated a few minutes later by Toko Ekambi, launched by Paqueta behind Sakho’s back (4-2, 68th ). The 17th goal of the season for the Indomitable Lion.
In the Rhone rain, Montpellier tried to relaunch this meeting as best they could through their entrants in the last quarter of an hour: found on the left, Mollet served Mavididi at the penalty spot but his inside of the foot was caught in two stages by Pollersbeck (76th). Nevertheless, with a lawn making the ball fly, the transmissions seemed more imprecise for the MHSC, but that did not bother OL, who managed to create chances despite everything. Despite Dembélé’s chances, not far from getting a double (89th, 90 + 1st), it was finally Aouar who scored his second personal goal in this match in added time (5-2, 90 + 3rd). If it does not gain a place in the standings with this convincing success (5-2), Olympique Lyonnais temporarily returns to four points from European places and can still believe in a qualification. Montpellier remains 11th in Ligue 1 for the moment and is moving a little further from the top 10.
