PLAYER RATINGS | Lyon 4-3 Brest: Last-gasp Ainsley Maitland-Niles penalty sees Lyon edge seven-goal thriller and reach the European places

Ligue 1 Uber Eats, Round 29, 14/04/24

It was the game that had everything. Olympique Lyonnais edged a seven-goal thriller (4-3) against Stade Brestois thanks to Ainsely Maitland-Niles’ penalty in the 106th minute, which lifts OL up to seventh, the equivalent of a place in next season’s UEFA Europa Conference League.

A weekend of quality not quantity in Ligue 1. Whilst three matches have been postponed in Round 29, Lyon and Brest served up a high-quality encounter. Kamory Doumbia’s long-range effort was the first shot of the match and it was far from his last, however, it was Lyon who took the lead against Les Ty Zéfs. The opener came courtesy of Corentin Tolisso, who latched onto a loose ball in the box, controlled and lashed a half-volley past Marco Bizot. 

Brest are second for a reason and they showed character and a reaction. Doumbia, a thorn in Lyon’s side throughout the first half, worked space in the box before unleashing an acrobatic volley towards Anthony Lopes, who got a crucial touch to turn it onto the bar.

Les Gones then went close to doubling their lead through Malick Fofana, whose curled effort was turned around the corner by Bizot. OL were ultimately grateful to go into the break in the lead after Martin Satriano’s drive required Lopes to once again tip onto the bar and over. 

The chances came thicker and faster in the second half. Tolisso tested Bizot with a long-range effort that required tipping over before Steve Mounié forced Lopes into a good stop. Former Lyon forward Romain Del Castillo went close before he did make his impact on the game in a chaotic ten minutes of football. 

He first set up Mounié to head home with a sumptuous in-swinging set piece before then getting on the scoresheet himself with a