Olympique Lyonnais scraped past Utrecht with a narrow 1-0 win in their Europa League opener, Paulo Fonseca’s men digging in and relying on a wonder strike from Tanner Tessmann to make the difference. It wasn’t pretty, but it keeps alive Lyon’s remarkable record of just two defeats in 33 matches at this stage of the competition.
Lyon were strong favourites on paper and they had most of the ball, but first half was cagey, the Dutch side defending with stubborn shape. Adam Karabec thought he’d broke the deadlock when he reacted first to a loose ball in the box and slid it under Vasilis Barkas, but up went the linesman’s flag, leaving the striker fuming. Other than that, the French side couldn’t create much clear and Utrecht grew in confidence, happy enough to keep things scrappy.
After the restart Lyon came out sharper and almost nicked the lead when Ruben Kluivert – facing his old club – met a cross with a firm header. Barkas though pulled off a brilliant fingertip save to claw it away. Utrecht’s threat was rare but not absent, Sébastien Haller finding himself momentarily through before being crowded out by a sliding challenge.
The deadlock finally snapped just past the hour and it came from nowhere really. Utrecht pushed upfield, got caught out of shape and Lyon punished them. Ainsley Maitland-Niles cut the ball back from the right and Tessmann arrived to absolutely leather it into the top corner, Barkas rooted. A goal worthy of winning any match.
Utrecht nearly hit back straight away, Gjivai Zechiël flashing a shot wide when he should have at least hit the target. That miss hung over them in the closing stages, as Lyon dug deep to see it out. For the Dutch side, it’s now three straight 1-0 defeats, all of them with that same nagging feeling of chances wasted.
For Fonseca’s men, it’s another step in a season that’s starting to look quietly solid, five wins from six now in all competitions. Not a performance to brag about, but a result that counts.
