Lyon vs Montpellier. French Ligue 1.
Municipal De GerlandAttendance15,000.
Saturday 1 December 2012 18:55, UK
Bafetimbi Gomis continued his fine form as Lyon extended their advantage at the top of Ligue 1 with a 1-0 win over Montpellier.
Bafetimbi Gomis continued his fine form on Saturday evening as Lyon extended their advantage at the top of Ligue 1 with a narrow 1-0 victory over champions Montpellier at the Stade de Gerland. Gomis - hat-trick hero in the midweek 4-1 win at Marseille - netted the game's only goal after 26 minutes, lifting Les Gones provisionally five points clear ahead of Saturday evening's fixtures. The result ended Les Heraultais' five-game unbeaten run in the league, leaving the visitors too close to the relegation zone for comfort. Gomis went close to setting up the opener after 10 minutes when he released Rachid Ghezzal, who got past Hilton and unleashed a 20-yard shot only to see Montpellier goalkeeper Jonathan Ligali make the save. But Ligali was beaten 16 minutes later, with Gomis the man on target. Clement Grenier picked up possession and produced the through-ball for Gomis, who controlled and muscled his way through before smashing an unstoppable right-footed effort into the net. Lyon goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre had to be alert to preserve his side's lead five minutes later, keeping out Souleymane Camara's shot after he had been set up by Younes Belhanda. Steed Malbranque could have given his team a two-goal interval cushion but his drive from the edge of the area, after a fine team move, was saved by Ligali at full stretch. Montpellier had the better of the chances in the early part of the second half, Vercoutre doing well to keep out a couple of fierce attempts from Marco Estrada. The hosts looked content to sit on their 1-0 lead, having seemingly expended a lot of energy at the Stade Velodrome on Wednesday. They almost grabbed a second through Grenier's low free-kick 17 minutes from time, but he was denied by the fists of Ligali.
