Xherdan Shaqiri and Moussa Dembélé both found the net in the second half as Lyon overcame Matteo Guendouzi's first-half goal to inflict a 2-1 defeat on Marseille on Tuesday and move into the top half of the table.
THE MATCH
The pair stepped out into the rain at an empty Groupama Stadium with the Matchday 14 game — abandoned in November when Dimitri Payet was hit by a bottle — to be played behind closed doors.
Knowing a victory would take them into second place a point ahead of Nice, Marseille shot out of the blocks. Boubacar Kamara should have done better than blaze over early on from just outside the penalty area (4'); Guendouzi did do better, glancing in a Payet corner to give the Marseille captain a ninth Ligue 1 Uber Eats assist of the season and earn OM the lead (10').
Lyon were without a host of players due to injury, illness and international duty, and failed to muster a shot on target in the first half. Malo Gusto might have tested Pau Lopez had he got to Léo Dubois' through ball before the Marseille 'keeper (13') while Guendouzi fired over at the opposite end to keep the momentum firmly with Jorge Sampaoli's side.
The on-loan Arsenal midfielder shot over the bar when teed up invitingly in the second half (57'), but the game turned on the 64th-minute introduction of Dembélé. The forward had reportedly been set to miss the game following a positive COVID test, but was named among the substitutes, and made all the difference when he replaced Emerson.
The UEFA EURO 2020 and UEFA Champions League winner had been ineffective in an advanced role on the left with teenage prodigy Rayan Cherki equally powder-puff through the middle. With Dembélé at centre-forward and Cherki switched to the left, Lyon were a very different proposition for a Marseille side that had kept 11 clean sheets this season.
Unsettled by Dembélé, Duje Caleta-Car fluffed a backpass: the Lyon striker saw his effort saved by Lopez while Maxence Caqueret's follow-up was also stopped by the Spanish custodian (69') as the hosts suddenly found an extra gear or three.
Shaqiri then fired over twice in quick succession (73', 74') before racing into the box and placing a superb — and rare — header into the corner from a Gusto cross to get Lyon back on level terms (76'). Had Lucas Paqueta and Karl Toko Ekambi not been missing due to international duty, it is unlikely the Switzerland international would have started…
Dembélé, who had scored penalties in Lyon's back-to-back wins before kick-off, then headed wide (78') and flashed an overhead kick beyond a post (85') before quite brilliantly ending Marseille's nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Shaqiri's ball into his feet allowed the former Celtic striker to take a touch and then flick it inside William Saliba before lifting the ball delicately over the advancing Lopez to net a wonderful seventh league goal of the campaign and take Lyon up into seventh and within a point of fourth place (89').
THE PLAYER: Moussa Dembélé
He gave the Lyon front line a focal point and presence. The change in the side was remarkable, and turned the game in the hosts' favour decisively. His goal was a wonderful piece of skill combined with ice-cold finishing, a real collector's item.
THE STAT: 13
Lyon are now unbeaten in 13 home games against Marseille, winning seven of them. OM last won a Ligue 1 Uber Eats match in Lyon in November 2007.
