Fabregas Sent Off As Lyon Thrash 10-Man Monaco In Ligue 1 Opener
10th August 2019
The pick of the games on Saturday sees Andre Villas-Boas' first competitive game in charge of Marseille who host Reims
- Lyon hammered Monaco 3-0 on Friday in the first game of the Ligue 1 season as former Brazil defender Sylvinho started his coaching reign in perfect style and Cesc Fabregas was shown a red card
- Moussa Dembele and Memphis Depay scored either side of Fabregas' dismissal in the first half.
- The former Celtic forward beat defenders Kamil Glik and Brazilian Jemerson in the air and his effort fizzed past Monaco's Benjamin Lecomte, making his debut for the club
MONACO, Principality of Monaco- Lyon hammered Monaco 3-0 on Friday in the first game of the Ligue 1
season as former Brazil defender Sylvinho started his coaching reign in perfect
style and Cesc Fabregas was shown a red card.
Moussa Dembele and
Memphis Depay scored either side of Fabregas' dismissal in the first half.
Midfielder Lucas
Tousart added a third with 10 minutes remaining against an inexperienced home
side who were without former captain Radamel Falcao who is expected to leave
the Principality before the end of the transfer window on September 2.
"I said in the
week all of three or four opening games will be difficult and Monaco were a
difficult opposition, I'm happy with the result," Lyon boss Sylvinho told
French broadcasters Canal+.
"I hoped my
team would play like this, there's always improvements to be made but I am
happy," the former Champions League winner added.
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His side showed
minimal rustiness despite seeing influential trio in former skipper Nabil
Fekir, left-back Ferland Mendy and midfielder Tanguy Ndombele leave during the
off-season.
They claimed an
early lead with six minutes on the clock with a powerful Dembele header.
The former Celtic
forward beat defenders Kamil Glik and Brazilian Jemerson in the air and his
effort fizzed past Monaco's Benjamin Lecomte, making his debut for the club.
The home side's best
chance of the first half fell to 22-year-old Benjamin Henrichs quarter of an
hour later.
He received the ball
from winger Gelson Martins, but his low shot failed to trouble Lyon goalkeeper
Anthony Lopes.
- Fabregas' early shower -
Things turned from
bad to worse for the hosts when experienced playmaker Fabregas was shown a red
card for stamping on the back of Leo Dubois' leg on the half hour mark.
In his attempts to
chase Dubois down, who was shielding a loose cross out for a goal kick, the
Spain midfielder took a stood heavily onto the right-back's calf.
Referee Ruddy Buquet
referred the incident to VAR who chose to send Fabregas for an early shower.
Sylvinho's outfit
doubled their advantage with nine minutes of the first 45 to play.
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Netherlands attacker
Depay lined up from outside the box catching Monaco's Lecomte off-guard to
nutmeg him for a 2-0 lead.
The referee was the
subject of whistles as the teams walked off at the break with the unhappy Stade
Louis II crowd voicing their discontent at Fabregas' dismissal.
Despite being a man
down, Leonardo Jardim's side looked the most likely to score early into the
second-half.
Some tidy passing
outside the box led to Martins forcing Lyon's Lopes into a tidy save with his
feet on the hour mark.
Bertrand Traore, who
set up Dembele for Lyon's first, could have added his side's third but his
header from Depay's 65th-minute corner found the side-netting.
Lyon made sure of
all three points with 10 minutes remaining to guarantee a positive start to
Sylvinho's tenure.
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Dembele broke down
the left, cut back to find summer signing Thiago Mendes who laid a pass off to
Tousart at the edge of the box who hammered home a powerful half-volley.
The pick of the
games on Saturday sees Andre Villas-Boas' first competitive game in charge of
Marseille who host Reims.
On Sunday, champions
Paris Saint-Germain play Nimes in the French capital.