Boye sees red as Ekambi’s double powers Lyon past Metz

Karl Ekambi got a double as Olympique Lyon silenced Metz 3-1 in Sunday’s Ligue 1 encounter.

The Cameroon international got a second-half brace as the Kids left Stade Saint-Symphorien with all points at stake.

Man of the Match in #FCMOL?

It just had to be Karl Toko Ekambi! 🏅 pic.twitter.com/2pl8eqGnBk

— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) December 6, 2020

Unbeaten in their last nine games across all competitions, Rudi Garcia’s men locked horns with the Maroons who were aiming to banish the memories of their home defeat to Brest their last time out.

The visitors lived to pre-match hype launching an unrelenting attack after the blast of the referee’s whistle.

Even at that, it was the hosts who were presented with a golden chance to take the lead after Senegal’s Opa Nguette was brought down in the box by on loan Juventus defender Mattia De Sciglio.

Nevertheless, goalkeeper Anthony Lopes turned in a moment of inspiration to save the ensuing penalty taken by Farid Boulaya.

17 minutes into the game Memphis Depay handed Lyon a well-deserved lead after hitting past goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja a one-time shot from Ekambi.

Despite efforts from Frederic Antonetti’s team to produce a comeback, the first-half ended 1-0 in favour of the Groupama Stadium giants.

Things looked bright for the visitors as Ekambi doubled Lyon’s lead just two-minutes into the second-half – blasting into the net an assist from Houssem Aouar.

The 28-year-old found the net for the second time on the hour mark with a cool finish after he was released by Depay.

In the 75th minute, Boulaya reduced the deficit for the home team after firing from close range an assist from Nguette.

Sadly, their ambition of a comeback was dented in the 87th minute after Ghana international John Boye was sent off by referee Karim Abed for elbowing Brazilian defender Marcelo.

On the stroke of 90 minutes, Lyon were also reduced to 10 men as substitute Rayan Cherki was given the marching orders for a serious foul play.

After the final whistle, it was the Kids who reigned supreme as they moved to third in the French topflight log after accruing 26 points from 13 games played so far in the 2020-21 campaign, while the Maroons occupy the 13th position with 16 points from same number of games.