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Lyon Beat Nice 2-1 With 10 Men to Go Top of Ligue 1

Pavel Sulc and Tanner Tessmann scored four minutes apart to turn the game around, and Lyon held on with 10 men after Keito Nakamura was sent off, with a stoppage time Nice equaliser ruled out for offside.

By Orbit Post2 min read
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Lyon Beat Nice 2-1 With 10 Men to Go Top of Ligue 1

Key points

  • Lyon beat Nice 2-1 at home on Sunday night to go top of Ligue 1, holding on with 10 men for the last 20 minutes and surviving a stoppage time equaliser that was ruled out for offside.
  • Elye Wahi put Nice ahead in the 18th minute.
  • Nice took their one early chance.

Lyon beat Nice 2-1 at home on Sunday night to go top of Ligue 1, holding on with 10 men for the last 20 minutes and surviving a stoppage time equaliser that was ruled out for offside.

Elye Wahi put Nice ahead in the 18th minute. Pavel Sulc equalised in the 32nd and Tanner Tessmann headed Lyon in front in the 36th. Five teams are level on 14 points at the top, and Lyon lead Paris Saint-Germain, Paris FC, Lille and Monaco on goal difference. It is the first time Lyon have finished a round of games top of the league since 2021.

Four minutes flip the game

Nice took their one early chance. Mohammed Amoura broke through the first line of the Lyon defence and the ball went wide to Jonathan Clauss, whose cross Wahi finished first time.

Lyon answered fast. Yehvann Diouf dealt with one fierce shot, but in the 32nd minute he spilled a low effort from Johan Duranville and Sulc tapped in the rebound from a yard out. Nice had not reset when the second goal came. Zachary Athekame crossed and Tessmann, making his first league start of the season for Lyon, powered a header home.

Red card and a long holdout

Nice ran the second half. Axel Witsel headed a Clauss corner against the crossbar early in the period, and Remy Descamps saved well from Niels Nkounkou at his near post.

The pressure grew in the 70th minute. Keito Nakamura, on the pitch for less than 10 minutes as a substitute, caught Mohamed Abdelmonem with a high boot and was shown a straight red card. Wahi hit the inside of the post, and Descamps came out bravely to deny him one on one.

In the dying seconds Wahi finished and thought he had levelled the game. The flag and the video check said offside, by a tight margin, and the goal did not stand.

What it means

Monaco helped Lyon on the day. The previous leaders lost 1-0 at Lorient, their first league defeat of the season, after Noah Cadiou scored a second half penalty. Denis Zakaria had brought down Dembo Sylla to give the penalty away on the hour.

Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca has a team that wins tight games with players missing. Nice coach Olivier Pantaloni has a different problem: his side led, dominated the second half and still left with nothing.

The table will not settle yet, with five clubs on the same points. But Lyon end the weekend first, and that is a place this club has not held at the end of a round since 2021.

Timeline

  1. Oct 18, 2026Elye Wahi finishes Jonathan Clauss's cross in the 18th minute to put Nice ahead in Lyon.
  2. Oct 18, 2026Pavel Sulc taps in a rebound in the 32nd minute and Tanner Tessmann heads Lyon in front four minutes later.
  3. Oct 18, 2026Keito Nakamura is sent off in the 70th minute, Lyon hold on with 10 men, and a stoppage time Wahi equaliser is ruled out for offside.

Sources