PLAYER RATINGS | Brest 2-1 Lyon: Mahdi Camara-inspired Pirates edge out Les Gones | OneFootball

Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Matchday 17, 11/01/2025

Courtesy of a first-half blitz with Camara and Ludovic Ajorque both scoring, Brest secured an important home win against Lyon. The visitors’ passiveness was rightly punished and they failed to close the gap with the podium-sitters.

The Match

Despite their impressive feats in the Champions League, Brest were beginning to look behind as their Ligue 1 results dipped, as shown by their 2-0 loss to Angers last week. The home side started with intent and even scored with their first foray forward. Massadio Haïdara made the most of a lenient Lyon defense to cross toward Ludovic Ajorque, whose effort was parried away by Lucas Perri into the path of the unmarked Mahdi Camara. The midfielder applied a ruthless finish past the Brazil international.

Lyon were scarcely proactive and had every trouble to get a hold on proceedings. The absence of veteran midfielder Nemanja Matic was keenly felt as Jordan Veretout and Tanner Tessmann struggled to match their opponents’ drive. Veretout was too easily dispossessed upfield by former Lyon forward Mama Baldé and Brest were on the counter again. Doumbia fed Camara whose inspired backheel allowed Ajorque a clean finish past Perri before the half-hour mark.

To their credit, Lyon did not collapse and worked their way to establish a foothold in Brest’s half. Marco Bizot denied Alexandre Lacazette at point-blank range but the Dutch goalkeeper was beaten in injury time. Corentin Tolisso and Malick Fofana combined on the left and the Belgium international fed Veretout, who redeemed himself by halving the deficit. Lyon were even inches from equalizing, but Tolisso’s precise header was flagged for offside.

Veretout’s contributions were over for the evening as Pierre Sage elected to hook the France international to bring Ghana winger Ernest Nuamah with Rayan Cherki reverting to a more central role. Brest thought they had their two-goal lead back but Baldé was marginally played offside by Moussa Niakhaté before finding Perri’s bottom corner.

It was end-to-end stuff at Francis Le Blé as both teams looked likely to score the next goal. Brest struck the post from a direct corner kick and Lacazette missed another big chance, aiming his header straight at Bizot. In the end, Lyon were far from showing nearly enough to escape Le Blé with a single point. They remain in fifth place while Brest go up to tenth.

Brest Player Ratings

Marco Bizot – 7

Massadio Haïdara – 6

Abdoulaye Ndiaye – 6

Brendan Chardonnet – 7

Kenny Lala – 5

Edimilson Fernandes – 6

Hugo Magnetti – 7

Mahdi Camara – 8

The Saint-Etienne youth product could not have hoped for a better time to prove his worth against Les Vert’s archrivals. The energetic Brest midfielder was instrumental in giving his side a 2-0 lead. He opened the scoring with a powerful finish after Perri parried away Ajorque’s effort before turning provider for the French forward with a beautiful backheel.

Kamory Doumbia – 7

Mama Baldé – 6

Ludovic Ajorque – 7

The former Strasbourg centre-forward had a terrific game, with a hand on both goals mentioned above. Most of all, Ajorque was a menace through and through and an excellent outlet thanks to his hold-up play.

Lyon Player Ratings

Lucas Perri – 4

Clinton Mata – 4

Duje Caleta-Car – 3

Moussa Niakhaté – 4

Nicolas Tagliafico – 4

Jordan Veretout – 4

A contrasting first half from the France international. The former Marseille midfielder was way too passive for Brest’s first goal and was clearly at fault for the second, after being dispossessed too easily by Baldé. To his credit, he halved the deficit in the dying minutes of the first half but Pierre Sage opted to hook him at half-time.

Tanner Tessmann – 4

Corentin Tolisso – 5

Rayan Cherki – 6

Alexandre Lacazette – 4

A game to forget for the Lyon skipper. The centre-forward missed a glorious chance to halve the deficit at the half-hour mark but he was denied by Bizot. The Dutch goalkeeper got the better of the former Arsenal again in the second half, parrying away his tame header. Sage saw enough and George Mikautazde replaced him.

Malick Fofana – 5

GFFN | Bastien Cheval