Ekambi’s dramatic late Lyon strike spoils Djiku and Strasbourg’s joy in French Ligue 1
Cameroon striker Karl Toko Ekambi was Lyon’s hero as his late effort snatched a 1-1 draw away to Alexander Djiku’s Strasbourg in Ligue 1 on Sunday.
Ibrahima Sissoko put the hosts ahead in the first half but the Indomitable Lion equalized in the last minute to salvage a point for his side on Matchday 31 at Stade de la Meinau.
Editor’s Picks
It was Toko Ekambi’s eighth goal of the season for Lyon, who sit 10th in the standings.
Strasbourg, meanwhile, occupies fourth place in the newspaper.
While the Cameroonian was the only African player in Lyon’s first XI, the hosts’ starting line-up included Ghanaian defender Djiku and Ivory Coast midfielder Jean-Eudes Aholou.
Sissoko opened the deadlock in the 20th minute, beating an offside trap to head home after Ludovic Ajorque’s perfectly weighted delivery into the box.
It was then agony after agony for the visitors as Anthony Lopes and Houssem Aouar had to be substituted in the 30th and 62nd minute respectively due to injury.
As if there hadn’t been enough forced substitutions in the game already, Strasbourg’s Anthony Caci had to come off for Frederic Guilbert in the 74th minute due to injury.
Ten minutes later, Lyon were forced into another injury-induced substitution as Tanguy Ndombele came off for Jeff Reine-Adelaide.
The hosts looked on track to claim all three points until the 90th minute when Toko Ekambi pounced on a loose ball at the far post to stab the equalizer from close range after the Strasbourg defense failed to correctly clear a center in the area.
The Cameroonian played the whole game, as did Djiku for Strasbourg but Aholou was knocked out in the 70th minute.
Zimbabwe striker Tino Kadewere replaced OL in the 62nd minute but Senegal striker Habib Diallo and Mali striker Dion Moise Sahi were both unused substitutes.
Strasbourg will be hoping to return to winning ways in their next game against Troyes while Lyon will have a similar ambition against Bordeaux.
Toko Ekambi and Djiku are set to play for Cameroon and Ghana respectively at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.