Lyon eased to a 3-1 win over 10-man Guingamp at Stade de Roudourou in Ligue 1 this evening to go back to the top of the table.
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Lyon dominated the possession in the opening 10 minutes, but were unable to create any clear-cut chances as Henri Bedimo twice saw his deliveries into the box cleared.
Jordan Ferri and Bedimo continued to work hard in midfield as they looked to break the deadlock for the visitors, but the Guingamp defence did enough to stop them connecting with Alexandre Lacazette.
Lyon did open the scoring midway through the first half, though, as they won the ball back in midfield to set up Nabil Fekir for a long-range effort which caught the keeper out.
The visitors had the chance to double their lead before the break when Baissama Sankoh brought Lacazette down in the penalty box.
The prolific striker stepped up to take the penalty himself, chipping into the roof of the net to extend Lyon's advantage.
Guingamp's chances of staging a second-half comeback were dealt a blow just before the interval when Christophe Kerbrat was shown a straight red for a high challenge on Ferri.
Lacazette took the resulting free kick, but Jonas Lossl was able to make a diving save to keep the deficit to two goals at the end of the opening 45 minutes.
With a man advantage, Lyon continued to see the majority of the ball early in the second half, and they added to the score when Ferri played the ball forward for Clinton N'Jie to blast in from the edge of the box with just over an hour played.
Younousse Sankhare tried to give the hosts some hope as he floated a high ball into the box, attempting to set up Sambou Yatabare, but Anthony Lopes came off his line to claim it first.
Guingamp continued to grow in confidence as the second half progressed, but Yatabare and Mustapha Diallo both had crosses cleared before they could put Lopes under pressure.
Fekir tried to end Guingamp's resurgence with a low strike inside the final 15 minutes, but Lossl was ready for his long-range effort this time and palmed it away.
Guingamp finally converted one of their chances with 10 minutes remaining as Diallo crossed the ball in for Claudio Beauvue to rifle into the bottom corner.
Yassine Benzia could have added a fourth for Lyon late on when Mouhamadou Dabo played the ball into the box, but he rushed his shot and scuffed it wide.
The result puts Lyon two points ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, who have a game in hand, while Guingamp sit 11th.
Sian Cowper
