Karl Toko Ekambi and Tino Kadewere scored a goal each as Lyon stretched their unbeaten run in the French Ligue 1 to 11 games after Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over Moses Simon’s Nantes.
The African stars continued from where they left off after Saturday’s 4-1 win over Nice and got the hosts off to a flying start at the Groupama Stadium with all three goals coming in the first 45 minutes.
Toko Ekambi opened the scoring for Lyon in the fourth minute while Kadewere doubled the lead in the 37th minute, and he also laid the assist for Lucas Paqueta to make it 3-0 just before the interval.
The Zimbabwe forward is enjoying a fine debut campaign in the French top-flight with a tally of seven goals and three assists in 16 league games following his move from Le Havre in the summer.
Toko Ekambi, meanwhile, remains the leading goalscorer in Rudi Garcia’s team with a contribution of nine goals so far this season and he is the second-highest African top scorer in the Ligue 1 after Reims’ Senegalese forward Boulaye Dia. The Cameroon striker was in action for 71 minutes while Kadewere was replaced in the 89th minute.
Ivory Coast’s Maxwel Cornet was another African star who started for the Kids but he was substituted for Mattia De Sciglio in the 70th minute while his compatriot Sinaly Diomande came on in the closing stages of the encounter.
Nigeria winger Moses Simon started from the bench for Nantes and he was introduced in the 59th minute for Kader Bamba while Cameroon’s Jean-Charles Castelleto and Algeria’s Mehdi Abeid started for the visitors.
Wednesday’s defeat stretched the Canaries’ winless streak to eight Ligue 1 games with their last victory dating back to November 8 when they beat Lorient 2-0.
Lyon, on the other hand, are level on 36 points with league leaders after 17 matches. They will be aiming to continue their impressive run of results when they host Lens for their fixture after the winter break on January 6.
