Lyon back on track

Lyon put their midweek Coupe de France disappointment behind them with a comfortable 3-1 win over struggling Ajaccio.

Lyon put their midweek Coupe de France disappointment behind them with a comfortable 3-1 win over struggling Ajaccio at the Stade Gerland. After seeing his side dumped out of the cup by Ligue 2 Lens on Thursday, Remi Garde will have been looking for a response got one when Gueida Fofana opened the scoring just before half-time. Jimmy Briand doubled the hosts' lead with just over 20 minutes played and, despite Dennis Oliech pulling one back for the struggling Corsican side, Bafetimbi Gomis made sure of all three points just before the end. Lyon made a decent start and Gomis had the ball in the back of the net in the fifth minute when he headed Clement Grenier's pass beyond Guillermo Ochoa, but his effort was rightly ruled out for offside. Ajaccio hit back and Paul Lasne turned the ball on to Anthony Lopes' right post with his shoulder after Junior Tallo and Sigamary DIarra combined to set him up. Tthere was little else for the visitors to cheer, though, as Lyon dominated. Miguel Lopes brought a decent save from Ochoa before Fofana fired wide after Alexandre Lacazette did well to find him and their pressure finally paid off shortly before the interval. Lacazette was involved again and this time he found Fofana 20 yards out. Fofana took a touch before bending a superb shot beyond Ochoa for only his second goal of the season. The visitors almost hit back straight after the restart, but Tallo fluffed his lines when through on goal and Samuel Umtiti recovered in time to get back. Briand should have doubled Lyon's lead when he failed to get a decent connection from Henri Bedimo's cross just three yards out and Ochoa was able to save, but the France international made up for that just a minute later when he doubled the lead. Bedimo was the architect once again and, after getting to the byline, he crossed for Briand to score with a cushioned header into an empty net. Ajaccio were offered hope with less than 10 minutes to play when Johan Cavalli picked out Oliech with a clever pass and the Kenyan turned Milan Bisevac inside out before poking the ball beyond Lopes, but Gomis allayed any fears with just minutes to play. Briand was involved once again and he found Gomis, who beat Denis Tonucci cleverly before bending a clinical shot beyond Ochoa from the edge of the area for his 10th goal of the season.