ANOTHER DEFEAT FOR TINO’S LYON
ZIMBABWE international Tino Kadewere was an 82nd minute substitute as bottom-placed Olympique Lyon suffered a 0-3 defeat in a re-arranged French Ligue 1 match against Marseille on Wednesday night.
Lyon are now under the guidance of the club’s academy director, Pierre Sage, who took over from World Cup winner Fabio Grosso, who was fired last week after managing just one win in seven games. It is the fourth coaching change for Lyon this season.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang set up Vitinha and Panama international Amir Murillo for first-half goals before the Gabonese striker added his team’s third on 55 minutes to seal a convincing victory.
The original fixture on October 29 was called off just as it was supposed to kick off as then-Lyon coach Grosso was left with cuts to the face that required stitches after being hit by broken glass.
Lyon appealed unsuccessfully last month to play the game on neutral ground and league officials took no action against Marseille as a club because the incidents did not occur inside the stadium.
No Lyon fans were allowed to attend the rearranged clash following a resurgence of football-related violence in France, the latest incident resulting in the death of a Nantes supporter at the weekend.
The seven-time French champions have lost both matches under their interim coach and remain rooted to the foot of the table, six points from safety.
“You just need to look at the standings to know we’re in danger,” said Sage, the fourth man to take charge of Lyon this season.
“But I don’t think there’s no hope left. We have a duty to work and try and pick up points. But today we understand why we’re at the bottom.”