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The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect as the Girondins de Bordeaux got proceedings underway in Lyon's renamed Groupama Stadium.
An early blow for Bordeaux
Bordeaux started brightly, with Jocelyn Gourvennec's side pressing forward at every opportunity. They won a corner in the 2nd minute, and Théo Pellenard's cross caused trouble in the home defence. Lyon responded with a free kick a few minutes later, but Benoit Costil stopped it easily (5').
Two minutes later Tete played a decent ball for Traoré, who charged past Théo Pellenard and fired a promising cross into the box. Jérémy Toulalan cleared for Bordeaux.
In the 10th minute Valentin Vada lost the ball in the Lyon half, allowing Nabil Fekir to launch a surprise counter-attack The Lyon captain tried his luck with a lob from the halfway line - Costil was off his line, and had no chance of getting back in time. 1-0 Lyon, a spectacular opening goal despite Bordeaux's good start to the game.
Bordeaux sought to bounce back immediately. François Kamano played a decent through ball for Younousse Sankharé, who narrowly missed the target (12'). But Lyon took confidence from their goal and began to take hold of possession.
Another run by Kamano result in a corner for Bordeaux in the 19th minute, but Valentin Vada's cross was pushed away by Lopes.
A foul by Jérémy Toulalan handed Lyon a free kick in a dangerous position. Memphis Depay's cross picked out Kenny Tete, who deftly fired past Benoit Costil. Lyon were 2-0 up after 24 minutes, having converted 100% of their chances.
The fight-back
Malcom was soon back on the attack for the Girondins, but his ball for Valentin Vada was too close to Lopes (31'). Minutes later Youssouf Sabaly picked out Malcolm in a good position, but the Brazilian's shot scraped just wide of the post (34'). The Girondins were determined to score before half time, and an unexpected turn of events in the 36th minute worked in their favour. Referee Clément Turpin showed Sergi Darder a second yellow card for a foul on Jérémy Toulalan, and all of a sudden the hosts were down to ten men. Jocelyn Gourvennec made a tactical change, taking off Valentin Vada for Cafu.
Lyon picked up another yellow card a few minutes later, for a flagrant foul by Traoré on Malcom. Malcom took the resulting free kick, but couldn't quite lift it over the wall. He smashed the rebound goalwards, it took a lucky deflection off Mariano Diaz and left Lopes stranded. Girondins 2-1 Lyon (41'). Bordeaux were one goal down at half time, but the game was clearly turning in their favour.
A hectic second half
Lyon kicked off the 2nd half, and the Girondins went straight back on the attack. Gaëtan Laborde, brought on at the break for Alexandre Mendy, headed down a ball for Lukas Lerager to volley goalwards. Anthony Lopes pulled off another good save to stop it.
In the 48th minute, Bertrand Traoré intercepted a stray pass from Lukas Lerager and launched an attack. Rapidly caught by Vukasin Jovanovic, the Burkina Faso international tried his luck but could not beat Benoit Costil. Bordeaux were dominating possession, but 10-man Lyon still looked dangerous on the counter. The Girondins' best chances came from crosses, like the floated ball from François Kamano which narrowly escaped Gaëtan Laborde at the back post (54').
Connecting with another cross from Youssouf Sabaly, Lukas Lerager produced a superb header which beat Anthony Lopes but rebounded off the woodwork (58'). Tempers began to fray under the pressure, and Clément Turpin had to show a few more yellow cards (64'). Lyon were struggling to deal with Bordeaux's numerical advantage, but their lead was still intact. With time ticking on, Malcom and Youssouf Sabaly linked up down the right wing. Sabaly was through on goal, but Lopes somehow managed to push his shot away with his fingertips (68').
Lyon's attacking opportunities were by now restricted to free kicks, but they made the most of them. After a foul on Fékir, new signing Bertrand Traoré stepped up to try his luck 25 metres from goal. His shot stunned Benoit Costil and put Lyon 3-1 up with just a quarter of an hour left to play (74'). A severe blow for the Girondins, who looked to be out of ideas as Lyon defended in numbers. In the 84th minute, Jovanovic teed up Younousse Sankharé for a volley which ended up in the back of the net - but the linesman's flag was up, wrongly.
Théo Pellenard kept pressing on, and delivered a cross for Lukas Lerager at the back post. The Dane chested down and dummied before firing in a left-footed shot which slipped through the defence and into the net (88'). Lyon 3-2 Bordeaux, with 5 minutes left to play!
Lyon were under siege in their own half, and the tension was almost unbearable. And then finally, with the game running into in injury time, Malcom was rewarded for his afternoon's efforts. He smashed in a superb shot from 20 metres out, beating Anthony Lopes to level the scores. What an incredible end to the game! Trailing 3-1 in the 88th minute, Bordeaux fought back to 3-3 and won a valuable point from a very tough away trip. Back home next week for the game against Troyes, Saturday 20:00 at the Matmut ATLANTIQUE.
