Olympique Lyonnais' Aly Cissokho, right, tangles with Montreal Impact's Sinisa Ubiparipovic during the second half of an international friendly match at Saputo Stadium in Montreal on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe
July 24, 2012 - 10:06 PM
MONTREAL - Bafetimbi Gomis scored on Olympique Lyonnais' final penalty kick Tuesday to give the reigning French Cup champions a win over the Montreal Impact following a 1-1 draw through 90 minutes.
Aly Cissokho, Bakari Kone and Gueida Fofana scored on Lyon's first three penalty kicks against Evan Bush, whose goalkeeping allowed Montreal to remain tied through regulation before a Saputo Stadium-record crowd of 19,225.
Sinisa Ubiparovic and Calum Mallace scored after the Impact failed to convert their first two opportunities and Jimmy Brian put Lyon's fourth attempt wide before Gomis sealed the win.
Jeremy Pied put Lyon up 1-0 when he scored 28 minutes in.
Andrew Wenger drew Montreal even at 1-1 in the 39th minute. Bush made a number of remarkable saves to allow the Impact to draw through 90 minutes.
Olympique Lyonnais played its final game leading up to Saturday's Trophee des Champions. Lyon, the reigning French Cup champions, will face French Ligue 1 champions Montpellier HSC at Red Bull Stadium in Harrison, N.J.
The 17th edition of what has become the traditional opening game of the French soccer season will be contested on foreign soil for the fourth year in a row, beginning with Montreal's Olympic Stadium in 2009.
Alessandro Nesta made his Montreal debut and Nelson Rivas returned for the Impact after missing seven Major League Soccer regular season games because of an abdominal injury.
Nesta, a member of Italy's 2006 World Cup championship team, signed with Montreal on July 5. The four-time Serie A defender of the year played 63 minutes, picking up a yellow card in the first half, before he was replaced by Matteo Ferrari, who also returned from injury.
Bush made at least five big stops over the course of the game, including a couple of strong saves to deny two of Lyon's earliest scoring opportunities.
The Impact goalkeeper charged forward to smother Jimmy Briand's attempt to chip a pass through the middle to Lisandro Lopez 10 minutes in.
Bush made a spectacular save in the 19th minute, leaping up to get his hand on Briand's header off a Pied free kick.
He had little chance on Pied's goal, a strong drive into the bottom right side of the goal teed up by a soft touch pass back by Lisandro Lopez at the top of the box.
Wenger, who played for the first time since June 20, was front and centre in several Impact scoring chances before he delivered the tying strike 11 minutes after Pied's goal.
The Montreal forward forced Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to make a diving stop on his shot in the 24th minute.
He set up first-half scoring opportunities by Justin Mapp and Marco Di Vaio before tying the game with a left-footed drive into the top left corner of the goal.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012