It was never going to be an easy day out for FCF Juvisy when they travelled to Lyon today and that proved to be the case. Olympique Lyonnais all but won the game in the first half and finished this match day on top of the Division 1 Féminine.
A thrilling first half sees four goals scored
OL started the match quickly and in the fifth minute of the match, their play was rewarded when Amel Majri opened the scoring for the day. The right wing-back, Pauline Bremer drove forward and found Dzsenifer Marozsán in the box. The German midfielder proceeded to wiggle free from her marker before shooting towards goal.
The shot was initially saved by Juvisy goalkeeper Céline Deville but her save then parried off of Saki Kumagai and Eugénie Le Sommer before falling to the feet of Majri who powered it home. Lyon were not done and two minutes later, Ada Hegerberg should have made it two.
Marozsán burst through into the box and squared it for the onrushing Hegerberg but she hit her effort wide of the near post. Hegerberg was involved in the thick of it again when Camille Abily slipped the Norwegian through but both her shots were saved by Deville who had an outstanding match despite the scoreline.
Hegerberg was not to be denied forever though and in the 23rd minute, combined with Majri to find herself on the scoresheet. The wing back got to the byline and found Le Sommer in the box who then laid it off for the unmarked Hegerberg. This time, the forward made no mistake and added to Lyon's tally from six yards out.
The next goal of the game came in the 30th minute when Wendie Renard played Majri through on the left flank and set the wing back away. Finding herself in a one-v-two situation, Majri then picked out her teammate Hegerberg who slotted in the third goal of the day with ease.
The fourth goal of the game fell to the visitors when in the 31st minute, Kadidatou Diani drifted inside before playing a lovely chipped ball to Clara Matéo. The forward then lobbed her header over the advancing Sarah Bouhaddi to bring Juvisy back within two goals of Lyon.
The rest of the half saw OL utilising their flanks effectively time and time again as both Majri and Bremer found themselves unmarked and in space regularly. The two wing backs then combined with the likes of Le Sommer, Hegerberg and Marozsán to craft chances for OL at regular intervals but the scoreline remained at 3-1 when the two teams headed into the locker rooms at half time.
OL press home their advantage in the second half
At the half, Hegerberg was replaced by Alex Morgan and it was Morgan who had the first opportunity of the half to add to OL's total. Majri again got forward easily and found Morgan making a near post run. The US international got a foot to the ball but sent her effort over the crossbar.
Five minutes later, the same two players combined to create another chance for Morgan but again her touch failed her and she could not direct the ball into the goal. It would be the tale of Morgan's game today as she could not find the right touch to get her first goal for OL.
In the 52nd minute, it was the other wing back Bremer, who gave Ol their chance to put themselves 4-1 up as she broke into the box and was fouled by Théa Greboval to earn OL a penalty. Kumagai stepped up to the spot and sent Deville the wrong way to put Lyon further in the lead. Lyon continued to press forward and in the 66th minute, Le Sommer got into the goal-scoring act as Bremer found the Fench international unmarked in the box before Le Sommer placed the ball into the far corner of the goal.
Bremer was the source of another opportunity in the 71st minute when she found an unmarked Morgan in the box. Somehow, the forward missed an open goal as the ball struck her knee and hit the post before being cleared by the Juvisy defenders. Six minutes later and it was the crossbar that denied Morgan this time as she latched onto a pass by Kumagai before firing from a tight angle. The ball bounced off the crossbar and Marozsán proceeded to send the follow up high into the stands.
In the last ten minutes or so of the match Juvisy began to find some spaces and in the 79th minute, Camille Catala was found out wide and in space. The midfielder then squared the ball for an onrushing Léa Declercq but Griedge Mbock was on hand to snuff out the danger. One minute later and Juvisy had found their second goal of the game. Greboval got forward for the first time in the game and played in a great cross to find substitute Inès Jaurena unmarked at the far post.
Juarena's initial header was stopped by Bouhaddi but the midfielder followed up her own effort and headed in the rebound. Juvisy continued to probe for another goal but the last chance of the game fell to Morgan once again. Substitute Elodie Thomis found some space out wide and burst into the box before squaring to Morgan.
Using her right foot, Morgan then sent her effort goalward but a sprawling dive from Deville allowed the goalkeeper to deflect the ball with her foot and prevent Morgan from scoring near the end of the game.