Toulouse 2 - 3 Lyonnais: Lyon battle back to beat Toulouse and leapfrog Monaco

Posted Sunday, April 24, 2016 by PA

Corentin Tolisso netted an 86th-minute winner as Lyon came from behind to beat relegation-threatened Toulouse 3-2 and jump to second place in Ligue 1.

Victory for the visitors stacked pressure on Monaco, who were knocked down to third but knew they would have the chance at Rennes on Sunday to reclaim the automatic Champions League spot.

All the goals in Toulouse came in a thrilling second half, beginning with the hosts taking the lead within five minutes of the restart through Marcel Tisserand.

Clement Grenier equalised for Lyon before Alexandre Lacazette gave them the lead nine minutes before full-time.

Wissam Ben Yedder got relegation threatened Toulouse back on level terms but Tolisso made sure it was Lyon going away with all three points.

The match started with Toulouse on top and they created a clear chance after 19 minutes. Captain Martin Braithwaite easily beat Rafael on the left wing before cutting inside and unleashing a low right-footed shot which Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes did well to block.

The home side went close again just past the half-hour mark. An Adrien Regattin corner was punched away by Lopes but only as far as Monaco loanee Tisserand. His cross was flicked on by Wissam Ben Yedder to Tongo Doumbia whose header flew just over the crossbar.

Lyon finally started coming into the match as the first half drew to a close. Tolisso flashed a 25-yard shot just wide of Alban Lafont's goal and then five minutes before the break Lyon thought they had scored when Samuel Umtiti deflected Rachid Ghezzal's strike into the net but it was rightly ruled out for offside.

Toulouse started the second half as they had begun the first but this time they made their pressure count after 50 minutes with the opening goal. Doumbia flicked on another dangerous Regattin corner to Tisserand at the far post and he made no mistake converting from close range for his first goal for Les Violets.

Lyon were almost back on level terms just two minutes later. A Mathieu Valbuena free-kick was not cleared and Rafael had the chance just two yards out, but he ballooned his shot over the crossbar.

Rafael went some way to atoning for the miss in the 70th minute. After the Lyon defence was caught out by a quick free-kick, Braithwaite came face to face with Lopes but Rafael somehow got back to block his shot.

Lyon made the most of that let-off as they equalised through substitute Grenier three minutes later. Tisserand gave away a free-kick 25 yards out from goal and Grenier stepped up to curl a shot over the wall and under the dive of Lafont.

The away side then took the lead after 81 minutes. Jordan Ferri found Lacazette on the right side of the area and Lyon's star striker deceived Lafont with a low shot into the bottom right corner for his 18th goal of the season.

Toulouse responded just a minute later through their top scorer Ben Yedder. Tisserand played a long ball over the top which found Braithwaite on the left side of the penalty area. His cross-shot was only parried by Lopes into the path of Ben Yedder who easily converted from close range.

With both sides needing to win the game, there was no settling for 2-2, and Lyon got the fifth goal after 86 minutes.

Ferri found space on the right side of the Toulouse area before pulling the ball back across goal. Lacazette could not get on the end of it but Tolisso was there at the far post for an easy tap-in.

The result leaves Lyon one point ahead of Monaco having played a game more, while Toulouse remain in the relegation zone and sit three points from safety.