Impactful Mikautadze fuels Lyon’s exhilarating comeback victory against Le Havre

Olympique Lyonnais staged a remarkable comeback to clinch a 4-2 victory over Le Havre at the Groupama Stadium, putting an end to Le Club Doyen’s unbeaten streak away from home, which had seen them secure two wins and one draw across their last three outings.

Following their 2-0 triumph against Nice last weekend, Lyon moved within two points of the top four, aiming to extend their winning streak to five matches across all competitions.

Paulo Fonseca’s side began the match strongly, dominating possession, but only managed to find the net after 22 minutes when a foul on Nicolas Tagliafico by Etienne Youte Kinkoue earned them a penalty.

Alexandre Lacazette confidently converted the penalty, driving the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net.

However, the hosts soon conceded a penalty of their own less than ten minutes later when Ernest Nuameh brought down Yassine Kechta in the area.

Abdoulaye Toure stepped up to strike the penalty, sending it soaring into the roof of the net.

Nuameh appeared to redeem himself just five minutes later, seemingly scoring to put his side back in front, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

Le Havre managed to gain the upper hand just before the break when Josue Casimir calmly slotted a left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner during stoppage time.

The second half started with few significant chances, but Lyon came agonisingly close to equalising in the 57th minute, only to see Tagliafico’s effort bounce off the right post.

Lyon dominated the second half, but Le Havre’s defensive line held firm, restricting the hosts to a limited number of clear opportunities.

The breakthrough finally came in the 78th minute when Malick Fofana sprinted onto a pass from Georges Mikautadze and struck a powerful shot past Mathieu Gorgelin, finding the net just inside the near left post.

Just five minutes later, Mikautadze got his name on the scoresheet, firing a right-footed shot from a corner into the near top-right corner of the goal.

The match was concluded in the seventh minute of stoppage time when Thiago Almada added a fourth goal with a precise finish into the bottom-right corner.

Lyon safely saw out the remaining time to claim all three points, keeping their pursuit of a top-four finish in Ligue 1 alive.

On the other hand, Le Havre finds themselves in a precarious position at the bottom of the table, remaining in the relegation playoff zone, now just one point above 17th-placed Saint-Etienne.