Lyon roast Rosenborg

Olympique Lyonnais 5-0 Rosenborg BK
French champions Olympique Lyonnais responded to three consecutive defeats in devastating fashion by thumping Rosenborg BK in their UEFA Champions League Group D fixture at the Stade Gerland.

Dazzling performance
It was a dazzling performance from the home side, who never gave their opponents a chance of getting back into the game once they had taken an early lead through Eric Carrière. Indeed, the French international was instrumental in his side's victory: his quick, incisive interplay with Vikash Dhorasoo perfectly complemented by the tireless running of Sonny Anderson and Tony Vairelles up front.

Much-changed side
Lyon coach Paul Le Guen made five changes from the team which suffered a first domestic home defeat for two years at the hands of AS Monaco on Saturday, with Claudio Caçapa, Philippe Violeau, Mahamadou Diarra, Carrière and Vairelles all recalled to the starting lineup.

Early lead
The home side were into their stride straight from the kick-off, and Le Guen's changes were vindicated within six minutes. Carrière had already flashed one shot wide after combining neatly with Sonny Anderson but he made no mistake moments later. Having played another one-two, Carrière burst into the Rosenborg area and prodded the ball past Árrni Gautur Arason to give his side an early lead.

Near misses
Lyon continued to pour forward, with Sonny Anderson enjoying close support from Vairelles, and Carrière and Dhorasoo causing Rosenborg all manner of problems with their passing and movement. Twice Sonny Anderson might have extended the lead, first firing into the sidenetting from a tight angle when clean through, and then turning a cross from Jérémie Bréchet against a post a minute later.

Firm finish
However, it was 2-0 on 26 minutes as Vairelles pounced on Carrière's pass on the edge of the Rosenborg area to beat Arason with a firm right-foot shot into the roof of the net. Eight minutes later, Sonny Anderson, whose tireless running caused the away side problems all night, ran on to Carrière's through-ball and shot under Arason to send the home fans into raptures. Carrière could easily have added a fourth himself in the 36th minute, but saw his close-range effort turned away by Arason.

Well-worked fourth
It mattered little as, a minute before the interval, Vairelles scored his second of the evening. Having played in Diarra on the right of the Rosenborg area, Vairelles accepted the return pass to fire powerfully into the far corner of the net and effectively end the game as a contest.

Penalty saved
The second half began explosively as Deflandre's foul on Harald Brattbakk inside the Lyon box offered the away side an immediate route back into the game. However, Bent Skammelsrud saw his spot-kick tipped away by Grégory Coupet, and Rosenborg never looked likely to cause Lyon any problems thereafter.

Thumping header
Substitute Péguy Luyindula completed the scoring in the 76th minute, heading Deflandre's pinpoint cross into the roof of the net from close range to seal a resounding win.