Nabil Fekir scored his first Ligue 1 hat trick, as well as assisting a fourth goal as Olympique Lyon dominated Caen at the Stade Michel d'Ornano. The win puts Lyon at a tie for second place in the early league table with seven points, two behind 2014-15 champions Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and with one more match played than Bastia, Angers, and Nantes, all who have notched seven points as well thus far.

A fantastic hat trick from Nabil Fekir

Fekir opened the scoring early, putting Les Gones up 1-0 in the 18th minute. The young Frenchman received the ball on the left side of the box, and made a run towards the outside angle of the goal. He sidestepped his defender before rifling the ball across his body and past keeper Remy Vercoutre.

That proved to be the first of three for Fekir, who doubled Lyon's lead just before the half time whistle. The 5-foot-8 forward, standing alone just up from the right side of the goal line, juked left and right until he found his way in between his two markers, at which point he fired the ball low and hard across goal. The shot actually struck the post and caromed into the back of the net.

To complete his hat trick, Lyon's 15-goal scorer from last season finished off a flawlessly-executed break with a left-footed strike just past the grasp of Vercoutre. After weaving about the right-centre lane of the pitch with his team mates, Matheiu Valbuena laid a superb ball right into the path of Fekir, who smashed it in to put the icing on the cake.

Beauvue spectacularly finishes it off

Adding insult to injury for the home side and their supporters, Claudio Beauvue scored a breathtaking wonder goal from the top-right of the penalty area to make it 4-0. Fekir led Beauvue with a one-touch lob pass on the transition play for Lyon, at which point the former Guingamp man sent an absolute scorcher of a ball across the box and into the top left of Caen's net.

Even goalkeeper Anthony Lopes of Lyon was jumping up and down and clapping after the goal, which will certainly make highlight reels of this week in Ligue 1. Beauvue now has two goals this season, half of Fekir's total. 

Alexandre Lacazette was absent from this match for Lyon, but that did not seem to matter to the 4-0 winners.

A day to forget for Caen

It was not Caen's day, as Lyon mixed right through them all game. Defender Damien Da Silva was sent off in the 73rd for a reckless tackle on Beauvue, capping off a game to forget for the club.

Caen came close to scoring when the scoreline was just at 0-1, when Andy Delort's free kick soared its way on goal but ricocheted off the crossbar and out of danger in the 38th minute.

Lyon are tied for second in the league table a game ahead of the rest of Ligue 1 this weekend. Caen are a point behind with two wins and two losses through four matches.

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About the author
Zach Drapkin
Philadelphia-based journalist with expertise in basketball, football, and soccer/fútbol.