Other Competitions
UEL Recap: OL automatically advance; Nice bows out in draw
Olympique Lyonnais vs. Ludogorets
The first 45 minutes were a scoreless encounter between the two sides, but it was the visitors who had the most total shots. Ludogorets recorded 10 while OL had six, but fortunately for the home side, the away team couldn't find the back of the net heading into the halftime break.
Although they allowed more shots in the first half, Les Gones were the ones to break the scoreless deadlock.
In the opening goal that came in the 54th minute, Ludogorets' Son completely missed his back pass to Sergio Padt, being outrun by Georges Mikautadze, who crossed to the six-yard box for Corentin Tolisso, who only had to push the ball into the back of the net.
Lyon was less than 20 minutes away from securing the win when Ludogorets responded with the game-tying goal. After Alexandre Lacazette lost possession, the Lyon defense was caught off guard.
Ludogorets took advantage, with Rwan Cruz putting a cross that allowed Dinis Almeida to finish the play with a right-footed shot from very close range to the bottom right corner for the equalizer in the 77th minute.
Neither side would break the deadlock as the contest ended one-all, but the result didn't prevent OL from finishing in the top eight and automatically qualifying for the next phase of the Europa League.
After the match, Rayan Cherki spoke to Canal+ and shared his thoughts on the first contest without former manager Pierre Sage, who departed the club this week.
"Pierre Sage leaves behind an incredible legacy. When you look at where he started with the club and where he leaves it now, it's clear he's earned everyone's respect. There are very few managers, both today and in football history, who can achieve what he has. I wish him all the best moving forward and hope he finds a club that matches his talents."
The Stat: Corentin Tolisso moves up OL's scoring chart
In the draw against Ludogorets, Tolisso netted his 35th goal for OL in official competitions, equaling Michel Bastos' total.
OGC Nice vs. FK Bodø/Glimt
The two sides had a scoreless first half with the goals coming for the two teams in the final 45 minutes.
On the opening goal in the 54th minute, the visitors scored on a right corner from that was deflected by the Nice defense to Patrick Berg on the right, who successfully passed it to Isak Dybvik Määttä.
He quickly laid it off to Fredrik André Bjørkan, alone at the penalty spot, who scored with the inside of his right foot.
The equalizing goal from Nice came in the 77th minute after Gaëtan Laborde cut in from the right, feinted, and played a pass back to the penalty spot.
Badredine Bouanani was there to meet the ball and scored with a first-time finish using his right foot, placing it straight into the center of the goal. Nice's goal allowed for the contest to finish one-all as neither side found the game-winner in the final stages of the match.
Photo credit: @OL_English
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