Lyon ended Guingamp's good run as they won 2-0 in Brittany to leap above Monaco and Olympique de Marseille to second place in the table. Nabil Fekir and Houssem Aouar scored the OL goals.
EA Guingamp 0-2 Olympique Lyonnais
THE MATCH
After winning four of their previous five Ligue 1 Conforama games, Guingamp came into this clash full of confidence. But not for nothing do Lyon have the best away record in the division. The incentive was there for Bruno Genesio's men after Monaco were held by Nice on Tuesday and OL seized the opportunity.
Mariano Diaz returned to the OL starting line-up after injury and had two chances in the space of a minute earlier in the game, the first from a free-kick and the second a header from the resulting corner. OL always look to Fekir for inspiration and the captain, OL's scorer in the disappointing 1-1 home draw with Angers on Sunday, netted the opener in the 25th minute, set up by Maxwel Cornet. It was Fekir's 15th league goal of the most prolific season of his career.
OL were markedly superior but six minutes after the interval Jordan Ikoko wasn't too far away from equalizing for Antoine Kombouaré's men. Aouar, so mature for a 19-year-old, was the player to seal the points for OL. Played in by a gem of a Ferland Mendy pass, the midfielder steered the ball under Kalle Johnsson for his fourth league goal of the season.
Johnsson kept the score down as he saved in turn from Cornet, Mariano, Fekir and Bertrand Traoré. After Johnsson saved from Traoré in stoppage time, Jordan Ferri followed up and Christophe Kerbrat cleared off the line. Lyon's all-action display bodes well for when they take on runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain at Groupama Stadium on Sunday evening.
THE PLAYER: Nabil Fekir
The French international has revelled in the responsibility of captaincy and stepping up to replace the goals taken from the team by the sales of Alexandre Lacazette and Corentin Tolisso. Already beyond his PB of 13 from 2014-2015, Fekir has plenty of time to improve on his stats and bust through the 20-goal mark.
THE STAT: 6
OL have gone six games unbeaten in the league (4W, 2D) since their shock home loss to LOSC in Week 15.