Montpellier, France – Clement Grenier's tally deep in stoppage time lifted Lyon to a 2-1 victory over Montpellier on Friday at the Stade de la Mosson, propelling the club into second place in Ligue 1 in the process.
Lyon entered the match riding a wave of positive momentum following a comfortable 3-1 result over Toulouse last time out and had the better of the play early on.
Lyon's early pressure paid off in the 29th minute when Grenier floated a cross into the Montpellier penalty area where Lisandro Lopez was there to get a head on it, nodding it past Montpellier goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren for the 1-0 advantage.
The defending champions responded with an equalizer four minutes before the break when Younes Belhanda collected a pass from Remy Cabella and ripped a low shot into the bottom left corner to put the sides on level terms at the intermission.
The match appeared to be heading for a stalemate, but Grenier had other ideas as he put everything he had into a shot from outside the box that flew into the top left corner moments before the final whistle to secure three points for Lyon.
Lyon jumps over Marseille into second place with the result and now sits on 59 points from 33 matches, while Montpellier remains in seventh place on 48 points.
Paris Saint-Germain highlights this weekend's Ligue 1 action as the league leaders look to widen their margin atop the table to 12 points over second- place Marseille when they take on Nice at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.
After losing to Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals, PSG returned to their domestic campaign with a 1-0 win over Troyes. Les Parisiens will have to rebound from another cup disappointment on Sunday after falling to Evian in the French Cup semifinals during the week.
Nice, meanwhile, can rise to fourth in the table if it can take three points against PSG.
Also on Sunday, Lille travels to the Stade Armand-Cesari to take on Bastia. Coming off a scoreless draw with Marseille last time out, Lille can extend its unbeaten run in league play to four consecutive matches, while Bastia tries to rebound from a lackluster 4-1 defeat to Lorient last week.
Nancy looks to pull itself out of the relegation places when the club takes on 16th-place Evian at the Stade Marcel Picot. Evian will be hoping to build off a good performance after knocking off PSG in the French Cup semis on Wednesday.
Bordeaux travels to the Stade Auguste Bonal to face Sochaux looking for a third consecutive win in league play, while Sochaux is hoping for a rebound performance after a 3-0 loss to Nice last Sunday.
Sunday's schedule wraps up as Reims hosts Valenciennes at the Stade Auguste Delaune II in search of its third consecutive victory, while Toulouse welcomes Lorient to the Stade Municipal de Toulouse.
Saturday's lone Ligue 1 fixture sees Marseille with an opportunity to move back into second place when the club faces struggling Brest, which has lost four straight, at the Velodrome.
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