Lyon breeze past Benfica

Goals from Jimmy Briand and Lisandro either side of the break were enough to see off what little threat that Benfica brought to the table and the Portuguese were fortunate not to have lost by a greater margin.

Their task was not helped by the dismissal of Nicolas Gaitan on the brink of half time for two bookable offences and Lyon took full advantage and now look set to seal their place in the knockout stages of the competition.

A nervous and scrappy opening passage of play saw both sides concede possession at will and subsequently fail to clinch the early initiative.

Eventually it was the home side who found their feet first with Michel Bastos and Yoann Gourcuff at the heart of Lyon's every attacking move.

The Brazilian, who has found the net three times so far in the competition, was the first to have a shy at the Benfica goal with a speculative long range effort that failed to trouble Roberto in the Porto goal.

With Benfica struggling to find their attacking gear, the home side were allowed to dominate proceedings and had their reward on the 20 minute mark.

Bastos was involved again after previously finding his range with a fierce strike that cannoned off the far post.

Finding himself in a similar position, the Brazilian went against his goal scoring instinct, opting to seek out a team mate instead, and was rewarded for his heightened awareness as Briand stretched his neck muscles to power a header past Roberto for his first goal of the competition.

With the advantage secured, Lyon refused to take their foot off the accelerator and could and, perhaps, should have increased their lead as Briand, Lisandro and Gourcuff all carved out half chances.

Without the necessary craft and guile to make an impact in the final third, Benfica became increasingly frustrated and soon resorted to petty fouls.

A flurry of bookings ensued and on the brink of half time, Gaitan found himself presented with a second yellow card and Benfica's hitherto fruitless task suddenly got a great deal harder.

Lyon flew out of the blocks after the half time break and looked like a side determined to make full use of their numerical advantage.

And they did not waste any time in doing so as first half goal scorer Briand turned provider for strike partner Lisandro.

When Briand's 20 yard strike rebounded off the post, the Frenchman was the first to react and crossed for Lisandro who tapped in from all of a yard after his initial effort had been kept out by the unfortunate Roberto.

Benfica boss Jorge Jesus then replaced a forward man, Javier Saviola, with the more defensive minded Cesar Peixoto in a move that reeked of damage limitation.

Gourcuff teed up Bastos direct from a corner who unleashed a thunderous volley from the edge of the box that stung the hands of Roberto.

As the minutes ticked by, the game petered out with Lyon's position at the top of Group B cemented and Benfica escaping a demolition.