Deflected goal gives Lyon advantage

Lyon 1 APOEL Nicosia 0ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE'S deflected goal gave Lyon victory in the first leg of their Champions League clash with APOEL Nicosia last night.

APOEL showed no attacking intent – they did not have a shot until the 88th minute – and looked for much of the match like they might hang on.

Lyon had a penalty appeal after two minutes when Ederson appeared to be eased out of the way by Nuno Morais, but Italian referee Paolo Tagliavento waved play on.

Lyon’s first real opportunity came after 24 minutes when the ball broke in the area to Anthony Reveillere whose shot was blocked.

Lisandro then saw his low shot held by Dionissis Chiotis diving low to his right, before Lacazette cut in from the right well but hammered a good chance over the bar.

Five minutes before the break Lyon had their best effort of the half. Ederson’s slide-rule pass was cut out by Ivan Trickovski but the ball broke to Lacazette, whose strike from the edge of the box was turned over by Chiotis.

Barely two minutes into the second period, Michel Bastos produced a lovely pass for Ederson, who rounded the keeper and slid the ball towards goal only for Paulo Jorge to slide in and clear at the very last moment.

Lyon finally took the lead after 58 minutes when Cris played the ball down the left channel for Lacazette, who cut inside before unleashing a shot which deflected off Jorge and looped over Chiotis.

LYON: Lloris, Reveillere, Cris, Bakary Kone,Cissokho, Kallstrom, Gonalons, Lacazette (Briand 60), Ederson (Gourcuff 71), Michel Bastos,Lopez. Subs Not Used: Vercoutre,Dabo, Fofana, Gomis, Umtiti.

APOEL NICOSIA:Chiotis, Poursaitides, Kaka, Paulo Jorge, Boaventura, Morais, Pinto,Charalambidis (Manduca 81), Helder Sousa (Marcinho 72),Trickovski, Almeida (Solari 67). Subs Not Used: Urko, Satsias, Alexandrou,Solomou. Booked: Pinto,Marcinho.

Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy).