Lyon 2-0 St Polten: French champions cruise to victory

Lyon made it back-to-back victories in the 2023-24 Champions League with a routine win against St Polten.

St Polten defender Leonarda Balog scored an own goal two minutes into the second half after a scrappy bit of play inside the box.

Ada Hegerberg looked to have added a third when scrambling in at close range after the ball came back off the bar. But it was disallowed as the Norwegian was judged to have used an arm in the process.

Lyon were never at risk of slipping up against their Austrian rivals, dominating possession and carving out 35 attempts at goal, but boss Sonia Bompastor will have been frustrated that they did not win by a more comfortable margin, having seen off Slavia Prague 9-0 in their opening game.

Lyon defender and player of the match Selma Bacha told Uefa.com: “We’ve got the win. To be fair, we could have played better, but this is a time of the year where the games are coming thick and fast. There’s a bit of fatigue, but tonight only the win is important.

“We analysed the opposition well so we knew there would be space to exploit down the flanks. We knew we had to play the ball wide, and that’s what we managed to do this evening.”

The record eight-time winners of the Champions League are now unbeaten in 19 games across all competitions – winning 18 and drawing one – since losing against Chelsea in the first-leg of last season’s quarter-final tie.

Lyon host Norwegian club Brann next time out in the Champions League on 12 December.

In Wednesday’s other Group B fixture, debutants Brann beat Slavia Prague 1-0 in Norway thanks to a goal from Larissa Crummer.

Brann have won both of their games and sit second in the standings with only goal difference keeping them behind leaders Lyon.