guimarães come from behind to hold lyon published: thursday 3 october 2013, 21.00cet
olympique lyonnais 1-1 vitória sc
the visitors remain top of group i after securing a point in france thanks to a goal from moussa maazou, who was later sent off.
by ian holyman from stade de gerland
vitória sc remain unbeaten atop uefa europa league group i after emerging from their maiden trip to france with a 1-1 draw at olympique lyonnais.
the portuguese club had never faced french opposition, but although maxime gonalons' early second-half header nullified moussa maazou's 39th-minute opener, the niger forward – sent off for a second bookable offence in added time – ensured that guimarães built on their matchday one triumph against hnk rijeka.
dominant in possession in the early stages, the hosts did little to menace douglas in the guimarães goal. in contrast, the visitors, though starved of the ball, certainly did threaten anthony lopes when chris malonga turned to deliver a cunningly dipping volley that the ol keeper watched pass his far post with relief.
similar emotions no doubt flowed through lopes when abdoulaye ba, having broken free of his marker, headed over from a corner. however, when gueïda fofana misjudged a high ball, there was no saving grace for lopes as maazou powered through to finish confidently.
for a side that had not mustered an away goal in three european outings, rui vitória's men were showing a rare cutting edge, which almost inflicted further damage when andré santos fired only narrowly over after the restart. as for lyon, they had been goalless in their previous trio of european outings both home and abroad, but they broke their own barren spell when gonalons' clever run and deft header proved too well placed for douglas' dive.
they nearly had a second too, when fofana was left pounding the stade de gerland turf after heading clément grenier's impeccably delivered free-kick wide despite an absence of markers. bafétimbi gomis then rid himself of the pursuing ba when he cut smartly inside, but douglas' equally sharp near-post save preserved guimarães a deserved point. it may even have been more, but nii plange headed straight at lopes when well positioned with time running out.
