Stade http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aly-Cissokho-c5313 was enough to give Valenciennes important three points.
Olympique Lyonnais coach Remi Garde will have to deal with the fact that his side failed to end the year 2011 after losing to Valenciennes in Week 19 of the Ligue 1 Championnat.
In recent seasons, Valenciennes CF has not been a happy hunting ground for the Rhone giants. In their last three visits to the Stade du Hainaut, Les Gones have lost twice in three games. once again, the northerners were Lyon’s bane and successfully halted
Lyon’s five-game unbeaten run.
As predicted, Lyon dominated possession in the opening moments of the game. However, it was VA who proved to be more result oriented.
Midway through the first half, Lyon were shocked when Valenciennes took an unexpected lead. An ever-lurking Remi Gomis met Foued Kadir’s freekick and his header hit Aly Cissokho. However, the deflection was not to be saved by a lunging http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hugo-Lloris-c16408.
Things got even worse for Lyon when veteran defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cris-c9486 hobbled off to be replaced by a young Bakary Kone in the 30th minute.
Controversy arrived moments later when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexandre-Lacazette-c4895 apparently fouled Jose Saez in the penalty area. However, referee, Philippe Maligue waved off VA players’ protests.
According to stats, Les Gones have never lost a game when Lisandro Lopez has featured this season. The Argentine international came close to proving the statistic right through a brilliant cross from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kim-c20955 Kallstrom in the 45th minute.
The second half started poorly for Lyon who were unable to find their rhythm. Les Gones nearly conceded a second goal and had to thank http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dejan-Lovren-c10779 for clearing a shot from Bong off the goal-line.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jimmy-Briand-c18553 were then brought on in the final quarter as Lyon
looked for an equaliser.
With just 15 minutes left, Lisandro Lopez came agonisingly close to making it 1-1. However, it was not to be Lyon’s day as the Argentine’s shot hit the crossbar. Kim Kallstrom then hit the crossbar through a freekick as Lyon were frustrated till the final
whistle.
The historic win ends Valenciennes’ season on a high who are now out of the drop zone. Lyon on the other hand, stay in fourth place as they were unable to take advantage of Lille’s 4-4 draw with OGC Nice.
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