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Toko Ekambi scores as Lyon subdue 10-man Strasbourg
The Cameroon international was among the goalscorers as the Kids strolled past the Racers on Saturday evening
Karl Toko Ekambi continued with his impressive goalscoring form as Olympique Lyon defeated Strasbourg 3-0 in Saturday’s Ligue 1 encounter.
Having failed to score his last time out as the Kids recorded a slim 1-0 victory over Dijon, the Cameroonian striker was back to his best as his team stretched their winning streak to three.
With just 14 minutes into the game, the visitors were reduced to ten man after Adrien Thomasson was given the marching orders by referee Amaury Delerue for a second caution.
Lyon capitalised on this numerical disadvantage to take the lead courtesy of a brilliant individual effort from Memphis Depay in the 20th minute.
Ten minutes later, Toko Ekambi put his side two goals up by lobbing the ball past goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima after he was teed up by Thiago Mendes.
Rudi Garcia’s men dominated every department of the game but were unable to get more goals as they went into the half-time break with a two-goal cushion.
In the second-half, they continued from where they stopped in terms of dominating ball possession as well as creating goalscoring opportunities.
Depay killed off any attempt from Strasbourg to launch themselves back into the game – completing his brace in the 68th minute – with his brilliant free-kick flying past the Japanese goalkeeper.
While Cote d'Ivoire defender Maxwel Cornet was in action from start to finish, Toko Ekambi - who now boasts of 10 goals in 21 league games - was substituted for Florent Da Silva with two minutes left to play, while Islam Slimani and Djamel Benlamri came in for Zimbabwe international Tino Kadewere and Marcelo respectively in the 71st minute.
Whereas, Cote d'Ivoire's Sinaly Diomande was not considered for selection by manager Garcia.
For the Racers, Ghana's Alexander Djiku and Senegalese forward Habib Diallo saw every minute of action as Ghana's Abdul Majeed Waris and Cote d'Ivoire's Kevin Zohi were subbed off for Mehdi Chahiri and on loan Monaco midfielder Jean-Eudes Aholou respectively in the 77th minute.
In the 66th minute, former France youth international of Malian background Ibrahima Sissoko was introduced for Sanjin Prcic by manager Thierry Laurey. Algeria's Idriss Saadi, South Africa's Lebo Mothiba and Bingourou Kamara were not listed for the clash.
Thanks to this result, Lyon have overtaken Lille as league leaders with 52 points from 24 outings so far.
