Olympique Lyonnais captain Memphis Depay scored a hat-trick, including two penalties, as the Champions League semi-finalists dismantled Dijon 4-1 in their opening Ligue 1 Uber Eats game of the season.
LYON 4-1 DIJON
THE MATCH
Rudi Garcia's side recovered from falling behind to an early Aurélien Scheidler goal to prove why they made the Champions League last four for the second time in their history.
OL were without Houssem Aouar, freshly called up by France, as they embarked on the new domestic season nine days after losing to Bayern Munich in Lisbon. Dijon had kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 home loss to Angers but they went in front at OL in the 14th minute when Scheidler - who had found the back of the net against Angers only for his strikes to be ruled out for offside - had a left-footed shot blocked by Marcelo only to follow up with a right-footed screamer that beat Anthony Lopes.
Alfred Gomis saved from Bruno Guimaraes (26') and then OL were awarded a penalty (37') when Maxwel Cornet was fouled by Ahmed Ngouyamsa. Depay stepped up to score off a post. The home team were in front (45') when Depay got the better of Ngouyamsa and then crossed hard which meant Dijon's Wesley Lautoa scored an own goal under pressure from Karl Toko Ekambi.
Things got even better for OL - seventh last season and with no European football for the first time since 1996 - as Depay (45+1') took advantage of some slack Dijon defending and finished in style, again after causing Ngouyamsa problems.
Moussa Dembélé (52') failed to get an attempt on target and then Dijon's new signing Jonathan Panzo, the English defender brought in from Monaco, conceded another penalty as he fouled Léo Dubois. Depay was nerveless as he completed his triple salvo by smashing in a shot off the underside of the bar. Dembélé (75') and Rayan Cherki (85'), on for Depay, could have made the winning margin even greater.
THE PLAYER: Memphis Depay
The Dutchman may have scored a penalty against Juventus but otherwise endured a difficult Champions League campaign. Still working his way back to full fitness after suffering a serious knee injury last December he was at his best here in his first Ligue 1 Uber Eats game of the calendar year. Since arriving at OL in January 2017 he has scored 46 league goals.
THE STAT: 11
Dijon have failed to win any of their last 11 away games in Ligue 1 Uber Eats (3D, 8L) since beating Reims 2-1 in September 2019.
