Online Reporter
THE French city of Lyon occupies a special place in the history of Zimbabwean football.
It’s where Reinhard Fabisch’s Dream Team secured a place in the final phase of the ’94 World Cup qualifiers with a goalless draw against the Pharaohs of Egypt.
It used to be the home of Warriors forward Tino Kadewere.
When a Zimbabwean footballer rolled into town at the weekend, it was inevitable that he would be part of the headlines.
Marshall Munetsi scored his THIRD goal on the trot as FC Paris came within minutes of becoming the first team to beat in-form Olympique Lyon in six matches at their home.
The Zimbabwean international has struck a rich vein of form and is one of the best goal-scoring midfielders in Europe’s Big Five Leagues at the moment. With the game goalless, Munetsi fired FC Paris into the lead in the second half.
The offside flag was raised to initially rule the goal out, but following a VAR review, Munetsi was able to celebrate his third goal in as many matches.
But, against a side which had won all their last five league matches at home, Paris FC could not complete the job of taking maximum points.
Chasing the game, Lyon managed a handful of half-chances as they sought a route back.
Adam Karabec teed up Abner Vinicius for a headed attempt that just failed to hit the target, before Karabec himself was denied by Kevin Trapp.
As Paris FC looked poised to claim consecutive league victories for the first time since September, late drama ensued.
Deep into stoppage time, Lyon were awarded a penalty after Alimani Gory was adjudged via VAR to have handled Adil Hamdani’s cross.
Corentin Tolisso stepped up to the spot and dispatched the resulting penalty, scoring in his fourth consecutive league match.
This result sees Lyon draw level with Marseille in the Ligue 1 table, both sides vying for European competition positions.
Paris FC, though denied a valuable away victory at the last, are now unbeaten in their last four away fixtures and continue their steady run of form.
After a goalless first half, Paris FC looked rejuvenated and nearly opened the scoring when Jonathan Ikone set Moses Simon through, only for the Nigerian’s attempt to miss the target.
The visiting side continued to apply pressure, with Nhoa Sangui forcing a vital save from Dominik Greif shortly afterwards. – Sports Reporter/sportingpedia
