Ligue 1 McDonald's, matchday 17, 11/01/2025
Thanks to a first-half blitz, with Camara and Ludovic Ajorque both scoring, Brest secured an important home win against Lyon. The passivity of the visitors was rightly punished and they failed to close the gap with the podium places.
Despite their impressive performances in the Champions League, Brest began to look back as their Ligue 1 results dropped, as evidenced by their 2-0 defeat to Angers last week. The home side started with purpose and even scored on their first foray forward. Massadio Haïdara took full advantage of a supple Lyon defense by crossing towards Ludovic Ajorque, whose effort was parried away by Lucas Perri into the path of the unmarked Mahdi Camara. The midfielder fired a brutal finish past the Brazilian international.
Lyon was hardly proactive and struggled to get a grip on the procedure. The absence of experienced midfielder Nemanja Matic was palpable as Jordan Veretout and Tanner Tessmann struggled to match their opponents' drive. Veretout was dispossessed too easily on the field by former Lyon striker Mama Baldé and Brest was on the counter again. Doumbia fed Camara whose inspired backheel allowed Ajorque a clean finish past Perri before the half-hour mark.
To their credit, Lyon didn't collapse and battle their way to gain a foothold in Brest's half. Marco Bizot denied Alexandre Lacazette on point-blank, but the Dutch goalkeeper was beaten in stoppage time. Corentin Tolisso and Malick Fofana combined on the left with Belgian international Fed Veretout redeeming himself by halving the deficit. Lyon was inches away from the equalizer, but Tolisso's precise header was disallowed for offside.
Veretout's contributions came last evening as Pierre Sage opted to sign the France international and bring on Ghanaian winger Ernest Nuamah, while Rayan Cherki returned to a more central role. Brest thought they had their two-goal lead back but Baldé was played marginally offside by Moussa Niakhaté before finding Perri's bottom corner.
It was an end-to-end situation at Francis Le Blé as both teams were likely to score the next goal. Brest shot from a direct corner against the post and Lacazette missed another great chance by aiming his header straight at Bizot. In the end, Lyon did not show nearly enough to escape Le Blé with one point. They remain in fifth place while Brest rises to tenth.
Marco Bizot – 7
Massadio Haidara – 6
Abdoulaye Ndiaye – 6
Brendan Chardonnet – 7
Kenny Lala – 5
Edimilson Fernandes – 6
Hugo Magnetti – 7
Mahdi Camara – 8
The Saint-Etienne youth product could not have asked for a better time to prove his worth against Les Vert's arch-rivals. Brest's energetic midfielder played an important role in giving his side a 2-0 lead. He opened the scoring with a powerful finish after Perri parried Ajorque's effort before turning into a provider for the French forward with a beautiful back heel.
Kamory Doumbia – 7
Mama Balde – 6
Ludovic Ajorque – 7
The former Strasbourg centre-forward had a great game, with a hand on both of the aforementioned goals. Above all, Ajorque was a threat through and through and an excellent outlet thanks to his hold-up play.
Lucas Perri – 4
Clinton Mata – 4
Duje Caleta-Car – 3
Moussa Niakhate – 4
Nicholas Tagliafico – 4
Jordan Veretout – 4
A contrasting first half from the France international. The former Marseille midfielder was far too passive for Brest's first goal and was clearly at fault for the second after being dispossessed too easily by Baldé. To his credit, he halved the deficit in the final minutes of the first half, but Pierre Sage opted to hook him at half-time.
Tanner Tessmann – 4
Corentin Tolisso – 5
Rayan Cherki – 6
Alexandre Lacazette – 4
A match to quickly forget for the Lyon captain. The centre-forward missed a glorious opportunity to halve the deficit after half an hour, but it was denied to him by Bizot. The Dutch goalkeeper again gained the upper hand against the former Arsenal in the second half and parried his tame header. Sage saw enough and George Mikautazde replaced him.
Malick Fofana – 5
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
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