OL 4-2 PAOK: Himbert-Merah star in youthful Lyon win | OneFootball

A youthful Lyon side beat PAOK 4-2 on Thursday to secure top spot in the Europa League league phase, with Rémi Himbert and Khalis Merah on the scoresheet.

L'Équipe highlighted the influence of the teenagers throughout a fractious contest. Himbert levelled on 33 minutes with a curled finish after clever movement.

Giannis Konstantelias was sent off before the break after two bookings in five minutes, the first at 35 for dissent following Lyon’s equaliser, the second at 40 for a late tackle on Mathys De Carvalho.

Merah, 18, had struggled in the early duels but grew into the game and struck his first professional goal with a precise shot on 55 minutes.

PAOK hit back when Georgios Giakoumakis anticipated a risky dribble in the Lyon box to earn the corner that brought the 2-2 equaliser, shortly after De Carvalho had lost a simple ball at 66. The centre-forward also scored and persistently troubled Moussa Niakhaté.

Himbert later won a penalty on 83 that Ondrej Karabec crashed against the bar, before 17-year-old Hamdani arrived on 87 and supplied a superb pass for Karabec in the closing stages.

Tyler Morton impressed in the first half, winning four of five duels and finding team-mates with crisp diagonals, then was withdrawn at the interval for physical management ahead of Lille on Sunday. Tessmann replaced him at 46.

Source: L'Équipe