Lacazette leads Lyon onslaught to down Monaco
Monaco were confident in the knowledge they could stamp down their claim to fourth place with three points this evening, and a rapid start sent them on their way.
Just 12 seconds after kick-off referee Benoit Millot pointed towards the spot, awarding the visitors a penalty after Sinaly Diomande’s failed clearance allowed Wissam Ben Yedder through on goal, where he was felled by Anthony Lopes.
Back in the squad after two games injured, the striker dusted himself off to send the hosts’ goalkeeper the wrong way from 12 yards to open the scoring with 70 seconds on the clock, marking the fastest penalty goal on record in France’s top-flight.
This heaped pressure onto the 2020 UEFA Champions League semi-finalists, who sat four points off the top-five before kick-off, as they themselves also sought victory in order to be amongst France’s European contingent next campaign.
They grew into the match, keeping Alexander Nübel the busier of the two stoppers through stinging low efforts from Lacazette and Rayan Cherki, both of which he took care of with aplomb.
However, the German was unable to stop the inevitable, and Lyon’s rejuvenated Lacazette stuck the equaliser into the bottom left corner from Bradley Barcola’s cutback minutes before the break.
It was nothing short of deserved, though the home side hinted at no signs of stopping after the break, with the worst possible start to the match not rectified just yet.
Normal service resumed and white shirts flooded forward at any given opportunity, culminating in the turnaround’s completion 12 minutes into the second period.
All that was good came via Cherki, and his delicious spin beyond Axel Disasi into the six-yard box forced an initial save out of Nubel before Maxence Caqueret stormed in to stick the rebound into an unguarded goal.
With the lead in their possession, Laurent Blanc was keen to use his vast experience to usher in a period of calmness to the match.
They successfully kept Les Rouge et Blanc at arm’s length for the remaining minutes, and for good measure Cherki made it 3-1 with a well-deserved goal of his own.
This time Lacazette turned provider, feeding the ball out to the right flank where his fellow Frenchman danced around Caio Henrique before curling in off the far post.
It’s a result that blows the race for Europe wide open, with Les Gones now hot on the heels of their rivals.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rayan Cherki (Lyon)