Garde relieved after Bordeaux trouncing

Lyon coach Remi Garde said his side were ‘extremely lucky’ to come away with a 4-0 win at Bordeaux on Sunday.

Lyon coach Remi Garde said his side were ‘extremely lucky’ to come away with a 4-0 win at Bordeaux on Sunday.

Lyon took an early lead through Clement Grenier before second-half goals from Gueida Fofana, Grenier and Alexandre Lacazette secured the result for Lyon, who cut Paris Saint-Germain’s lead on top of Ligue 1 to three points.

“I’ll be a killjoy on this one but I have to admit that we were extremely lucky,” Garde said.

“We managed to be in the lead at the break without being really dangerous.

“That was our game plan today. We grabbed every opportunity we had.

“We have been very unlucky lately and today it fell a bit more in our favour.

“But we deserve the win with four goals being a little bit flattering in the end.”

Garde praised the efforts of his younger charges while insisting the experienced brigade still had a role to play.

“I don’t think there is an obvious relationship between the moment the game turned in our favour and the introduction of our young players,” he said.

“We needed to do most of the hard work in the first half to be able to score in the second.

“I don’t know what our average age was at the end of the game, but it’s true that those youngsters bring a lot to the team.

“But I will never stop saying that I also need experienced players.

“Today, the ‘old-timers’ were there to lead this young generation because despite what you may think, they still need to be shown the ropes.

“We can enjoy this victory because the group is so young but we must immediately focus on the next game.”

Lyon host Tottenham Hotspur in Thursday’s second leg of their Europa League tie, before meeting seventh-placed Lorient in the league on Sunday.