Mikautadze strikes as Lyon spoil Sage’s Lens debut

THE MATCH: RC Lens 0-1 Olympique Lyonnais

Pierre Sage spent 14 months at the head of Olympique Lyonnais, so it would be a turn of fate that his return to Ligue 1 McDonald's as the head coach of Racing Club de Lens would come against his former side. For Les Sang & Or there would be no more than three new signings in goalkeeper Robin Risser, Samson Baidoo, and former Metz captain Mathieu Udol. Paulo Fonseca opted to start Englishman Tyler Morton in the middle of the park after he signed from Liverpool in recent weeks. Meanwhile, a familiar face in Florian Thuavin would appear on the bench of Lens, after the Frenchman rejoins Ligue 1 McDonald's and promised during pre-season.

Mikautadze opens the scoring for Lyon

Les Lensois came out the traps quickly with intensity, but after the opening periods it was OL who would create the early chances as Mikautadze dragged a strike wide & Tolisso followed up only several minutes later. Both sides exchanged early blows in what was an expansive first period - and it would come to a head when the visitors opened the scoring just before the end of the first period. Malick Fofana burst down the left side and put the ball on a plate for Georges Mikautadze who managed to turn in the ball past Risser after it was deflected off Mathieu Udol (45+1').

The second half saw Andy Diouf pose a threat for the hosts, and his rampage into the box finished with a strike which was finely saved by Rémy Descamps following a deflection off the OL defence. Pierre Sage would opt to bring on Florian Thauvin, marking a return to French football for the 32 year-old midfielder. The former France international had a new sense of impetus for the Northern side, and minutes later Wesley Saïd was sent bearing down on goal but a last minute intervention would see his strike blocked and sent wide.

Despite the late rush to get on the scoresheet, Les Sang & Or weren't able to breach Rémy Descamps's net despite a promising first outing under Sage - as OL defended their lead to claim the first three points of the 2025/2026 season.

Lyon starts the season strong with a victory on the road 🦁💥 pic.twitter.com/PjS2NokQ0B
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) August 16, 2025

Match reaction: Rémy Descamps

Lyon Goalkeepr, Rémy Descamps:

"It's important to start the season well, to show that all the preparation hasn't been for nothing. We were there, we did a real team job. We work well with the coach and understand everything we need to do, both individually and collectively. We need to be able to vary our play. We kept our heads down for much of the second half, but it paid off and we took three points today."