Brazilian winger Tetê enjoyed a stunning debut for Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday, coming off the bench to score the goal that secured a vital 3-2 victory over Angers SCO at the Groupama Stadium. There were also wins for Monaco, Nantes, Montpellier and Troyes.
Olympique Lyonnais 3-2 Angers SCO
THE MATCH
Lyon were looking for a boost before the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final away to West Ham United. However, they had won just two of their last seven Ligue 1 Uber Eats games before the recent international break and they twice threw away leads given to them here by Moussa Dembélé.
Dembélé opened the scoring in the 26th minute, finishing off a fine move after latching onto a pass by Tanguy Ndombélé. Mathias Pereira Lage should have equalised for Angers before the break only to hit the post when it seemed easier to score (35’) but he did make it 1-1 five minutes into the second half, pouncing to turn the ball in after the home defence made a hash of dealing with Souleyman Doumbia’s cross from the left.
OL’s response to that was immediate as they went immediately down the other end and retook the lead, Dembélé firing in his second of the day and his 12th league goal of the campaign.
Angers again hit back as Lyon again failed to clear a cross from the visitors’ left flank, this time by Thomas Mangani, and the ball fell to Sofiane Boufal to tuck in. It then looked like they might hang on for a valuable point when Anthony Mandréa kept out a Jérôme Boateng header midway through the second half.
Yet Angers had lost seven in a row before beating Stade Brestois 29 1-0 in their last outing and they buckled here with 10 minutes to go. Tetê controlled a pass by Malo Gusto before curling a superb shot into the far corner to mark his debut with the winning goal and keep alive Lyon’s slim hopes of qualifying for Europe via the league for next season.
THE PLAYER: Tetê
The 22-year-old Brazilian winger has landed in Ligue 1 after being allowed to leave Shakhtar Donetsk due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He played in the UEFA Champions League for Shakhtar earlier this season so his credentials are clear. Here he replaced Tanguy Ndombélé just moments before collecting the ball with his second touch in a Lyon shirt and curling in the winner with his third. It was a remarkable debut.
THE STAT: 3
Tetê scored the winning goal for Peter Bosz’s side with just his third touch in a Lyon shirt.
Elsewhere on Sunday afternoon, AS Monaco followed up their 3-0 thumping of Paris Saint-Germain in their last outing with a 2-1 victory away at struggling FC Metz. Skipper Wissam Ben Yedder put the visitors ahead within a minute of the second half starting at the Stade Saint-Symphorien, the goal his 18th in the league this season. A stunning overhead kick by Ibrahim Amadou brought Metz back on level terms just after the hour mark, but Monaco won it thanks to a back-post header in the 72nd minute by Myron Boadu, who had an earlier effort disallowed for offside. Metz have now failed to win in nine and remain in the bottom two, while Monaco retain hope of returning to Europe next season.
Coupe de France finalists FC Nantes bounced back from successive league defeats to beat Clermont Foot 63, winning 3-2 at the Stade Gabriel-Montpied. Ludovic Blas gave Nantes the lead with a penalty just before half-time, only for the hosts to draw level with the hour mark approaching as Saîf-Eddine Khaoui finished after a great touch from Mohamed Bayo. Pedro Chirivella put Les Canaris back in front with a deflected strike in the 62nd minute, but again Clermont hit back to equalise just a minute later. Salis Abdul Samed’s superb dipping strike went in off the underside of the crossbar. Yet Nantes still snatched the victory as Randal Kolo Muani turned in a left-wing cross midway through the second half for his 11th in the league this season. Clermont, who finished with 10 men after Abdul Samed was sent off and also had coach Pascal Gastien dismissed, remain a point above the bottom three.
Stade Brestois 29 were 2-1 winners away at Montpellier Hérault SC, with Martín Satriano putting the Bretons ahead in the 69th minute at the Stade de la Mosson and Franck Honorat doubling their advantage 11 minutes from the end. Téji Savanier pulled one back for Montpellier with a stoppage-time penalty.
Meanwhile, ESTAC Troyes took a big step towards survival with a 1-0 win over Stade de Reims in the Champagne country derby at the Stade de l’Aube. The away side had Azor Matusiwa sent off early in the second half and the 10 men could not hang on for a point as substitute Renaud Ripart fired in a 93rd-minute winner for Troyes, who have won three and drawn two of their last five games.
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