Bordeaux and Lyon played out a 2-2 draw on Sunday to earn a point that does neither of the faltering sides much good in their Ligue 1 Uber Eats ambitions.
THE MATCH
Beaten by Reims last time out, Lyon found themselves in the bottom half of the table — albeit with a game in hand on most teams around them — at kick-off, and coach Peter Bosz had responded to the dip in form that had brought three defeats in his side's last five top-flight outings by switching to three at the back with teenager Castello Lukeba brought in alongside the experienced Jerome Boateng and Jason Denayer.
Bordeaux had won just one of their last eight home games and were looking over their shoulders at the bottom two; but Vladimir Petkovic's men opened positively and Hwang Ui-Jo forced Anthony Lopes into action early — the OL 'keeper coming out on top in their one-on-one duel (9').
Lucas Paqueta responded at the opposite end by calling Benoît Costil into action (10') before Hwang again tested Lopes (12') with Bordeaux — in the relegation play-off place at kick-off — giving at least as good as they got.
Malo Gusto has been one of the successes of Lyon's season so far — he struck a post (19') before another defender, Denayer, opened the scoring, heading in Xherdan Shaqiri's corner from close range (30').
The lead afforded by the Belgium international's third league goal of the season did not last long, however. Yacine Adli picked out Alberth Elis wide right, and his cross was met by Rémi Oudin, who lunged to beat Denayer to the ball and poke home his fourth of the campaign (36').
But Bordeaux's backline has been porous, and it soon sprung a leak, though it did take a superb hit from Thiago Mendes to pierce it. The ball ricocheted kindly for the Brazilian midfielder, whose crisp drive from outside the box flew beyond Costil's right hand to give Bosz's men a half-time lead (41').
Denayer was replaced just before the interval with what is feared to be a lower leg fracture (44'), and the reshuffle, which saw Damien Da Silva come off the bench, had not had long to settle into place when Bordeaux hit back.
The substitute was not at the heart of the misunderstanding, though, that led to the hosts' equaliser: it was Bruno Guimaraes and Gusto who allowed Hwang to squeeze through, and his ball found Elis, who got the better of Lopes (58').
It was only the Portugal international goalkeeper that denied Bordeaux what would have been a hugely welcome win, brilliantly turning Mbaye Niang's shot over the bar deep in added time to earn Lyon a point (90+3').
THE PLAYER: Alberth Elis
The Honduras international has hit the ground running since his summer arrival on loan from Boavista. That's five league goals in nine appearances now for the 25-year-old, who appears to have struck up a good understanding with Hwang in particular.
THE STAT: 6
Bordeaux have conceded at least two goals in their last six league games, their worst such run since the 1959/60 campaign.
