Lyon piled the pressure on Everton manager Ronald Koeman with a 2-1 Europa League win at Goodison Park on Thursday, while Olivier Giroud’s acrobatic late strike snatched Arsenal a 1-0 victory over 10-man Red Star Belgrade.
Nabil Fekir’s penalty put French side Lyon ahead early on as Everton struggled for inspiration with Wayne Rooney rested and watching on from the stands. The crowd only really got behind their team when a mass brawl broke out between the players in the second half after skipper Ashley Williams pushed over Anthony Lopes as the Lyon goalkeeper jumped to catch the ball.
The Wales international was lucky not to see red as he also appeared to land blows on several players, while some home fans tried to get in on the action by leaning over the barriers. The incident is unlikely to go unnoticed by Uefa, but Williams brushed it off by powering home a header from a Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick just minutes later.
But Lyon were the better side and retook the lead through Bertrand Traore’s clever finish. Williams played down his moment of madness, telling BT Sport: “It’s football. It is what it is. We want to win and so do they. These things happen... We want to show fight for ourselves, the club and fans.”
Everton now turn their attentions to a home Premier League match with Arsenal on Sunday, where anything other than three points would put Koeman’s position under even more scrutiny. “I’m disappointed, we had a good start and we made a really stupid foul for the penalty,” Koeman said.
“The performance was not good in the first half, lots of mistakes, no confidence. Nothing is impossible, but with only one point from two home matches, it will be difficult.”
Captain Fekir put Lyon ahead in just the sixth minute from the spot after a rash tackle from Everton full-back Mason Holgate on Fernando Marcal. The hosts finally created a chance as Kevin Mirallas was denied by Lopes after a clever pass from Tom Davies, before Lyon almost doubled their lead when a long-range Memphis Depay free-kick struck the crossbar with the aid of a deflection. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford spared Everton further embarrassment with a string of late saves.
Giroud’s acrobatics save Arsenal
Earlier on Thursday, Arsenal rode their luck at times in an uninspiring performance, before Giroud struck in the 85th minute after Red Star had seen Milan Rodic sent off.
The Gunners took advantage in style with a wonderful goal, as Jack Wilshere’s clever flick was turned across goal by Walcott for Giroud to send an overhead kick spinning into the top corner. The Premier League side stay top of Group H, five points clear of Red Star, after three straight wins.
Brief scores:
- AC Milan 0 drew with AEK Athens 0
- Red Star Belgrade 0 lost to Arsenal 1 (Giroud 85)
- Everton 1 (Williams 69) lost to Lyon 2 (Fekir 6-pen, Traore 75)