Dembele Scores Two Times As Tete Comes On To Score The Winner For Lyon Against Angers.
A late strike from debuting Tetê saw Olympique Lyonnais end a winless run of three games, with a 3-2 victory over Angers.
Looking to avoid three straight Ligue 1 home defeats for the first time since August 1997, Lyon hosted an Angers side hoping to secure a first domestic double over their opponents since 1971/72. With two unwanted records at stake, too, it was the hosts who started the better side, rarely allowing Angers a forage into their half, albeit without providing a test for Anthony Mandrea in the visitors’ goal at the other end.
As the minutes increased in the half, however, so did the Lyon pressure, soon leading to a first chance for Moussa Dembélé and a first goal of the afternoon. The forward had an easy task of firing past Mandrea after Tanguy Ndombele’s expert pass allowed his teammate to net his 12th goal of the campaign with 26 minutes gone. After a somewhat routine first 30 minutes, though, Lyon had their fortune to thank for their lead, when Mathias Pereira Lage’s outstretched boot could only deflect the ball agonisingly against the right-hand post.
Come the second-half, Lyon’s luck at the back ran out, as their defensive frailties came to the fore once more, with Pereira Lage taking advantage of a bounced ball inside the area to emphatically nod home. Such is Angers’ failings when defending themselves, however, it took just under two minutes for the hosts to retake the lead, with Dembélé claiming his brace, firing beyond Mandrea, whose touch should have been stronger when attempting to keep the ball out in the 52nd minute. Angers just would not lie down, though, and just seven minutes later, the visitors were level following more calamitous defending from the hosts, who allowed another cross to fall in front of Anthony Lopes, who stood no chance when Sofiane Boufal precisely finished his seventh of the season.
As both sides searched for a winner, Mandera was the busier keeper, and he could do nothing to deny debuting substitute Tetê, who curled a superb effort into the left-hand corner with 80 minutes on the clock. The hosts then held on for the 3-2 victory, to cut the gap to eight points from third, and leave Angers just five points away from the dropzone.
