Lyon roar silences Inter

Olympique Lyonnais defied the odds to secure an exceptional 2-1 win against UEFA Champions League Group D rivals Internazionale FC at the San Siro.

Goals on the break
Goals in either half from Sidney Govou and Sonny Anderson saw Paul Le Guen's side build up a 2-0 lead in Milan which, despite Fabio Cannavaro's 73rd minute header, Inter could never quite come back from.

Long balls
Inter began the match looking the more positive side, trying to play Hernán Crespo through on goal with a number of long balls, but the Argentinian striker found the Lyon defence and goalkeeper Grégory Coupet in alert form.

Defensive lapse
In fact, it was Inter who had reason to question their defensive alertness. Govou only just missed the target with a long-range effort after ten minutes, but he made no mistake as Lyon opened the scoring eleven minutes later.

Desperate challenge
Sonny Anderson charged up the left through a wrong-footed Inter midfield and played the ball across for Eric Carrière. The midfield player spotted the unmarked Govou racing into the area and the striker tucked the ball under Francesco Toldo despite a desperate challenge from Cannavaro.

Disappointment for Dalmat
Inter had spurned one chance to open the scoring after 13 minutes but Stéphane Dalmat's first touch let him down as he chased a Javier Zanetti into the area, and Coupet was able to claim the ball comfortably.

Lyon in command
From then on, Lyon seemed to be in control, as Inter's attempts to unhinge them down the flanks were thwarted by a combination of sturdy defending and a number of confident claims from Coupet, not least a 34th-minute effort to take Francesco Coco's left-wing cross off the head of Crespo.

Heroic defending
The second half followed a similar pattern, with Inter increasingly pressing down the right wing but being repelled at every turn by some truly heroic defending throughout the Lyon side.

Toldo saves
Indeed, Lyon restarted the game looking to kill the game off and Vikash Dhorasoo tested Toldo with an angled drive barely a minute into the second period.

Terrific finish
The home side had just about regained their composure after a shaky few minutes when they found themselves two goals behind. With 60 minutes gone, Carrière darted the ball into the Inter half, Sonny Anderson chased it forward and controlled it before beating Toldo with a magnificent 25-metre drive.

Near miss for Inter
The French champions rode their luck as Inter committed more men to attack and could consider themselves fortunate after 66 minutes when Luigi Di Biagio ran into Iván Cordoba while trying to convert a right-wing corner and skewed his header wide from barely six metres.

Cannavaro on target
However, when Cannavaro rose at the far-post to head Alvaro Recoba's right-wing corner beyond Coupet after 73 minutes, Lyon looked like they would struggle to keep Inter at bay.

Recoba goes close
Recoba was not far off target with a 79th-minute free-kick and as Lyon withdrew further inside their own half, an equaliser looked certain. However, it was not to be, and as Coupet raced off his line after three minutes of added time to punch another corner to safety, the referee blew his whistle and Lyon's travelling supporters came into song.