Recap: Mikautadze Scores Brace as Lyon, Auxerre Draw

Olympique Lyonnais have had a challenging week, first in the UEFA Europa League, they lost 1-0 to Beşiktaş J.K., and then on Sunday, Pierre Sage and his team level 2-2 with AJ Auxerre on Sunday at Groupama Stadium.

The first half nearly went scoreless but in the final minutes, Lyon received a penalty kick opportunity following a VAR review. Georges Mikautadze converted the shot to hand the home side a 1-0 advantage heading into halftime.

OL had six total shots in the first while the visitors countered with three, but that would change in the second half. Auxerre registered 16 total shots in the final 45 minutes while Lyon had six with the two sides finding the back of the net.

AJA responded right out of the break scoring a goal in the 47th minute courtesy of Sinaly Diomandé to level the scoring. OL retook the lead in the 62nd minute as Mikautadze recorded his brace.

Auxerre showed their willingness to battle adversity in this contest, leveling the scoring again in the 72nd minute after a goal from Hamed Traorè.

Following the match, Auxerre manager Christophe Pélissier spoke to the media and noted that he was happy with the way his squad responded after OL took the 1-0 lead.

"I’m proud of the boys for earning our first away point here, especially after coming back twice. This match isn’t just about Lyon’s penalty; at halftime, we had to calm things down and focus on sticking to our game plan. I’m really pleased tonight—when we play as a team, we can be highly effective."

Mikautadze also spoke after the match and noted his joy at getting the boulder off his back by scoring his first goal for Lyon. Once that was lifted, the second goal came right after that.

"I finally told myself, I'm happy—this is my first goal with OL, and it gave me the chance to score the second one right after. We have to win matches like these; it’s clear we let two points slip away. We just need to keep working."

Lyon will look for a bounce-back performance on Friday against LOSC Lille while AJA will attempt to carry this positive momentum into next weekend's match against Stade Rennais.

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