Lyon take heart from Fekir's brace against Monaco

Nabil Fekir scored a last minute goal on Friday night to give Lyon a 3-2 win over champions Monaco. Fekir’s strike sent Lyon third after nine games but they are likely to be overtaken by other teams on Saturday.

Nabil Fekir scored Lyon's winner with virtually the last kick of the game against Monaco. Reuters/Robert Pratta

In a goal fest of a first-half Mariano Diaz opened the scoring for the hosts after 11 minutes. That strike was cancelled out six minutes later by Rony Lopez.

Fekir put Lyon ahead mid way through the first half but Adama Traore levelled matters just after the half hour mark. The France international’s winning goal came from a free-kick. “It’s true I played well," said the 24-year-old. "I set up one goal and scored the others. But what was important was that we all played well as a team."

The defeat threatens to leave Monaco well adrift of pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain. The big spending leaders travel to Dijon on Saturday and can extend their advantage over Monaco to six points.

PSG will be without skipper Thiago Silva and Layvin Kurzawa. The defenders picked up injuries on international duty with Brazil and France respectively.

Veteran playmaker Thiago Motta will also miss the trip to Dijon along with Marco Verratti and Edinson Cavani. PSG boss Unai Emery said he is resting the three ahead of Wednesday’s third game in the Uefa Champions League group stages at Anderlecht

Neymar, who also played for Brazil in their final World Cup qualifiers, will be in the squad along with teenage star Kylian Mbappé and Javier Pastore, who is line to feature for the first time after recovering from injury.

Dijon have won just one of their eight games this season and lie in 17th place with six points. They have conceded 17 times.

Manager Olivier Dall’Oglio admitted his players faced a tough challenge against a side that has smashed in 27 goals in Ligue 1.

"We’re going to be up against a very big team, "he said. "PSG are a steam roller. They have huge resources and that gives their coach a range of options.

"They’re one of the best teams in Europe and from what we’ve seen so far, they’re capable of handing out a hammering to anyone."