Alexandre Lacazette enjoyed a winning return to French football as Olympique Lyonnais ground out a 2-1 win over AC Ajaccio in an ill-tempered Ligue 1 opener on Friday night. The striker, who returned to the club after his contract with Arsenal expired at the start of last season, took the captain’s armband and led the home team at Groupama Arena. It’s as if he’d never left!Les Lyonnais took the lead when Lacazette expertly laid off a Johann Lepenant pass onto the left foot of Mateus Tete. The Brazilian finished nicely past Benjamin Leroy with just 12 minutes on the clock.Shortly after the opening goal, Tete was felled in the box by Cedric Avinel. The ref pointed to the spot, giving Lacazette an excellent chance to mark his second debut with a goal. Sure enough, Laca dispatched the penalty with confidence, doubling the lead.It looked like the Lyon club will have an easy task against the Ligue 1 newcomers, but some defensive mistakes and bad tackles reduced the home team to ten men, handing out a penalty in the process.Goalkeeper Anthony Lopes was shown a direct red card for his clumsy attempt to take the ball off Mounaim El Idrissy in his penalty box. Midfielder Thomas Mangani fired the resulting spot-kick past the substitute goalie Remy Riou, getting his team back in the game.The visitors returned the favour to Lyon by getting a red card of their own just before the break. Their creative midfielder Romain Hamouma earned his second yellow of the night for putting his hand in the face of Lucas Paquetta. He was off, making the teams equal in numbers again.The team from the island of Corsica had a chance to level around the hour mark, but Riad Nouri was unlucky to see his shot diverted to the bar and out of touch.New Lyon player Nicolas Tagliafico had a penalty shout denied by VAR, but the home side hung on to claim three points in what’s been a relatively uneventful match.
