Lyon count cost of defeat

New Olympique Lyonnais coach Alain Perrin described Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Toulouse FC as "a day when everything went against us" as the French champions were quickly brought down to earth in Ligue 1.

Poor start
Lyon had not been beaten so early in the season since the first league game of 2003/04 when they lost 1-0 at LOSC Lille Métropole. The following year they went their first 22 games unbeaten, 19 the season after that and 12 last term. They looked like leaving Toulouse with a point this time around until Johan Elmander struck from close range in the final minute, giving support to those who believe Lyon will fail in their challenge to claim a seventh successive title. "Obviously It's too early to say," Perrin said. "Everything went against us in that game. We must now forget about it and just think about the trip to Lorient to make up the points we lost in Toulouse."

Cris fears
Lyon were forced to play nearly an hour with ten men following the dismissal of midfielder Kim Källström. Their pain was compounded by injury to captain Cris who was taken off after injuring his knee and will undergo an MRI scan today to assess the extent of the damage which is thought to be quite a serious sprain. Winger Sidney Govou also suffered a thigh injury during the game and had to be replaced on 22 minutes by Nadir Belhadj.

Lorient test
Lyon's best chance fell to Kader Keita who hit the post with a header mid-way through the second half. "My players were nervous," Perrin said. "Kader Keita in particular. They must understand that everywhere we go people will be up for the game because we're the champions." The former FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, Portsmouth FC and Olympique de Marseille coach has four days to get his side back on track before a trip to unbeaten FC Lorient, while Toulouse welcome Liverpool FC in a UEFA Champions League qualifier on Wednesday afternoon.