Olympique Lyonnais would have preferred to play last week, on the first day of the Champions League. But it was in the Europa League that Les Gones landed, after their elimination in the play-offs against Fenerbahçe, and it is now appropriate to honor the club’s European DNA for Paulo Fonseca’s men.
On the pitch at Anderlecht, OL got off to a good start to their C3 campaign. Noah Nartey opened the scoring after good work from Kail Boudache (0-1, 8th). And the recruit at the end of the transfer window, Keito Nakamura, opened his account in his new colors by finding the fault, with a shot deflected by the former Strasbourg player Omobamidele (0-2, 22nd).
OL held on
It was a nice way to make things easier. But we still had to resist the pressure put on by the Belgians after returning from the locker room. After a post found by LoĂŻs Openda and a goal denied to Tyler Morton on the same action (52nd), the Mauves reduced the gap through their scorer, Mihajlo Cvetkovic, after a loss of the ball by Clinton Mata (1-2, 62nd).
The pressure was high on RĂ©my Descamps’ goal in the last half hour, especially since OL almost shot themselves in the foot with a moody gesture from Mata in the area (the VAR was lenient). But Les Gones held on, and can now look forward to this “European” poster which awaits them this weekend against Lens.
