Two quickfire goals in five minutes earned Real Betis a 2-0 win over Lyon in the UEFA Europa League, extending Los Verdiblancos’ impressive run to just one defeat in their last 11 European outings.
Lyon started brightly at Estadio La Cartuja, with Tanner Tessmann seeing plenty of the ball early on, though he nearly gifted Betis a chance when Cédric Bakambu closed him down near his own box. Khalis Merah then fired wide in a half that produced few clear openings, as both sides struggled to find a decisive touch despite neat build-up play.
Betis eventually found their rhythm and broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark. After Abde Ezzalzouli’s initial effort was turned behind by goalkeeper Dominik Greif, the Moroccan reacted quickest to slot home from the resulting corner, flicked on by Bakambu.
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Antony came agonisingly close to a quickfire second but didn’t have to wait too much longer to get on the scoresheet, as the Brazilian was released by Marc Roca’s intelligent free-kick and effortlessly lifted the ball over Greif.
Lyon’s only response before the break was a speculative attempt apiece from Tessmann and Enzo Molebe.
Paulo Fonseca took action with a double change ahead of the restart, and Merah came agonisingly close to halving Lyon’s deficit within three second-half minutes. The visitors continued to search for a way through Manuel Pellegrini’s backline, but with the green and white wall refusing to budge, Mathys De Carvalho eventually resorted to a venomous strike from range that was saved.
The away defence wasn’t as secure, and a long ball to Bakambu resulted in Greif having to deny Abde. Les Gones still kept pushing but Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Nicolas Tagliafico both shot off-target.
Tyler Morton embodied his side’s growing desperation with a speculative shot that bounced convincingly wide, as Real Betis recorded their third consecutive win – all of which have come in different competitions – to extend their unbeaten record in the UEL. In doing so, they ended Lyon’s perfect start in the competition while condemning Les Gones to a third consecutive winless match across all competitions.
