Three goals in six minutes sealed a remarkable comeback for Lyon who defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 in the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final.
Two goals from Marie-Antoinette Katoto either side of half time gave the visitors a convincing lead over their domestic rivals and eight-time winners.
Both sides have met at this stage of the competition on three occasions before today, and Lyon have won every game.
They made sure to maintain that record with a barrage of goals in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Former PSG star Kadidiatou Diani scored first before goals from Melchie Dumornay and Amel Majri sealed the victory.
The visitors will feel hard done by after showing patience going forward and resilience at the back to take a well deserved lead.
They had chances to extend it even further and put Lyon out of sight but ultimately tiredness caught up with them and they were unable to see the game out.
Talking Point – A cracking comeback
Lyon’s thrilling comeback in the final 10 minutes goes to show just why they have been crowned champions of Europe an incredible eight times.
PSG’s woes against their rivals continue, but tthere are still 90 minutes left for them to turn things around and they’ll have the home advantage in the second leg.
The visitors seemed to think they’d done enough by going two goals in front and attempted to remain strong defensively heading into the final stages.
However, once the first goal went in you could see the rest coming. PSG looked like they’d ran out of steam and Lyon were growing in confidence.
The hosts will be disappointed with their performance for large parts of the game but delighted with the overall result.
Player of the match – Amel Majri
It was a stunning performance from Amel Majri off the bench for Lyon. Her goal was not only the winner but the pick of the three purely for her audacious turn and quality to place the ball into the bottom right hand corner.
She’s more than proven why she should be starting in the return leg as she can be the difference once again.
Player Ratings
LYON: Endler 6; Carpenter 5, Mbock Bathy 5, Renard 6, Bacha 6; Damaris 7, Horan 7, Dumornay 8; Diani 7, Becho 7, Cascarino 7, Majri 9, Gilles 5.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN: Picaud 6; Le Guilly 4, Gaetino 4, De Almeida 5, Karchaoui 5; Groenen 7, Geyoro 5, Albert 5; Chawinga 7, Baltimore 6, Katoto 9, Samoura 4, Martens 4, Vangsgaard 4.
Match Highlights
45′ – GOAL! LYON 0 – 1 PSG (KATOTO): A great ball in from the right hand side finds Katoto who takes a touch and slots it into the bottom corner.
49′ – GOAL! LYON 0 – 2 PSG (KATOTO): Lyon fail to deal with the danger and a deflected shot falls into Katoto’s path and she makes no mistake in scoring.
81′ – GOAL! LYON 1 – 2 PSG (DIANI): A cross in from the right hand side finds Diani in the box and she pokes the ball into the bottom left corner.
86′ – GOAL! LYON 2-2 PSG (DUMONAY): A thunder strike from Dumonay just inside the box puts Lyon level.
87′ – GOAL! LYON 3-2 PSG (MAJRI): A great turn from substitute Majri sets up a perfect shot which is placed perfectly to complete the comeback.