Amel Majri continued her torrid start to the D1 Féminine season, leading OL Féminin to a 4-0 victory over ASJ Soyaux on Saturday. Majri followed up her two goal, two assist performance in week one over Lille with two more goals and another assist.
Lyon got on the board early yet again, as Ada Hegerberg redirected Majri’s cross from the left side into the back of the net in the 5th minute for her third goal of the year. But Soyaux was not about to go down without a fight.
Just five minutes after Hegerberg’s opener, Anna Clérac got a step on Griedge Mbock and burst in on goal for Soyaux’s best opportunity of the match by far. A great save by Sarah Bouhaddi kept les Fenottes in front.
That wasn’t the end of Soyaux’s push, though, and the visitors found success pushing into Lyon’s half down the left side, though they failed to get another clear shot on goal. Lyon went to the bench early for left side reinforcements, and brought in 17-year-old Selma Bacha for Carolin Simon (hampered by illness) at left back. Coincidence or not, OL doubled their lead just a minute later off a nifty one-two between Bronze and Majri.
If the game was ever in reach for Soyaux, the second half quickly put it beyond their grasp. Majri slalomed neatly through the box to score her second of the match, and Soyaux’s forays into Lyon territory became few and far between.
Mbock put the cherry on top when she tucked a loose ball in the box into the back of the net off a corner in the 85th minute. Lyon were untroubled the rest of the way and the afternoon ended with a 4-0 final.
The scoreline was comfortable, but it was not les Fenottes sharpest performance. Some fatigue coming off the international break was both evident and understandable, but too many crosses into the box fell harmlessly to a well-organized Soyaux defense.
Pedros, who served the last of his two-game suspension, may still be experimenting with his personnel, as Saki Kumagai picked up the start this week over Izzy Christiansen. The absence of Dzsenifer Marozsan was acutely apparent, too, as Lyon relied much more on deep bombs and rushes down the wings than creating through the center of the field. Canal + Sport reported during the match that Maro likely won’t return to training until mid-October at the earliest, so the European champions will have to continue finding a way to build without their playmaker.
It would be easy to give player of the match honors to Majri, but we did that last weekend, and if she stays this hot, she’ll be back here again soon. So congrats to Lucy Bronze, who locked down the best play of the afternoon 10 minutes after the final whistle, as she turned on the jets to chase down Camille Abily’s adorable daughter.
How can we not reward that?
Elsewhere in D1 Fémine action, Montpellier failed to heed our warning that Bordeaux are a dangerous team this season, as they dropped a 1-0 decision. Former Fenotte Mylaine Tarrieu picked up the only goal of the afternoon. In the Paris derby, PSG walked all over Paris FC in a 5-1 win. Lille bounced back from last week’s loss to Lyon with a 3-2 victory over Rodez, despite ending the game down a man. Fleury beat Metz 2-0, while Guingamp and Dijon split the points in a 1-1 draw.
Next up for Lyon is midweek Champions League action! Les Fenottes travel to Norway for a match against last year’s Toppserien runners-up, Avaldsnes, on Wednesday. Avaldsnes have struggled recently, with no wins in their last four matches, and they currently sit 9th in the Toppserien table. Lyon last faced the Norwegian squad in October 2016, when they eliminated Avaldsnes from Champions League contention with 5-2 and 5-0 wins. They’ll hope to repeat the feat this year.
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[Top photo via OL on Twitter]
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