Lyon Beats Monaco in the Final Minutes With grace Jeffinho’s Final Attack

On Friday, Lyon defeated Monaco 1-0 on the road behind a goal from Jeffinho in the 85th minute, eliminating the seven-time Ligue 1 winners from the automatic relegation zone.

Jeffinho, a Brazilian, scored his first goal of the season two minutes after joining the game, helping Lyon win back-to-back games for the first time this season and move up to 16th position in the standings temporarily.

Following up last Sunday’s 3-0 home triumph against Toulouse, the win is just Lyon’s third of the season—and interim coach Pierre Sage’s second.

Sage told Prime Video, “Seeing the players happy made me smile beyond the three points.”

With Monaco controlling the play and the opportunities, and the visitors trying to catch the principality team on the break, the first half was well contested.

The home team exerted more pressure in the second half, and seven minutes after the interval, Mohamed Camara had his right-footed attempt miss the outside of the post.

Just before the hour, Captain Youssouf Fofana missed an attempt, while Folarin Balogun missed a shot from the outside of the box that went just beyond the post.

After Lyon’s team failed to clear a set piece, Anthony Lopes saved the day on minute 67 with a diving save that denied Balogun.

However, Sage’s introduction of Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the 72nd minute and Jeffinho an additional 11 minutes later turned the tide of the match.

With five minutes left, the replacements came on together and the Brazilian scored his first goal of the game when the former Arsenal player’s cross found him close to the penalty spot. Philipp Koehn stopped the effort.

Monaco, who play away to Lille and Le Havre later this weekend, are now third in the league and run the danger of dropping even farther behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain and Nice.