Olympique Lyonnais winter signing Romain Faivre was thrilled to open his account with Les Gones by scoring a superb double in the 4-1 win in Lorient as Ligue 1 Uber Eats Round 27 got under way at the Stade de la Moustoir on Friday night.
Coming off a 1-0 home defeat to reigning Ligue 1 Uber Eats champions LOSC in Round 26, Peter Bosz's Olympique Lyonnais side were out to right the ship in Lorient and that's exactly what they did.
'Got our confidence back'
Four stunning strikes from Romain Faivre, Moussa Dembélé and Toko Ekambi yielded all three points and took Les Gone stop provisional sixth place, filling their sails with confidence ahead of a European six-pointer against in-form Rennes in Round 28.
"We got our confidence back in training by working on finishing," said two-goal hero Faivre after the match. "It's good for everyone to score; we have to win every game. Collectively, it's good to leave with the three points. We played a great game."
'I knew that chipping the 'keeper was the right move'
A key man at Brest before his winter move to Lyon, Faivre had made four appearances without scoring before opening the floodgates in Lorient on Friday. After a powerful low drive to convert Lucas Paqueta's assist for OL's opener (05'), Faivre burst through on the counter and rounded out the 4-1 scoreline with a deft chip (78').
"It's very satisfying on a personal level. I'm very happy to score my first two goals in an OL shirt. I hope that this will lead to others," said the 23-year-old AS Monaco youth academy graduate. "I was waiting for this first goal but I especially wanted to win this game. It was a perfect night. [For his second goal] I knew that chipping the 'keeper was the right move. This game will give me and my teammates confidence for the games to come."
European stage
The former France U21 international, who is also eligible to represent Algeria, is yet to play senior international football, but if he continues in this vein it may well be sooner rather than later that he has to make a choice...
In any event, his next chance to shine for Bosz's side could come on Wednesday as OL travel to Portugal for the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie with Porto.
>> MATCH REPORT: Lyon cruise to Lorient victory
>> Romain Faivre, Brest's emerging midfield force
>> Romain Faivre: OL look to The League of Talents