Garde: Toulouse too strong for beaten Lyon

Lyon head coach Remi Garde believes his team were outmuscled in their 3-0 Ligue 1 defeat at Toulouse on Sunday.

Two late goals made the win flattering for Toulouse, their first victory in four attempts.

Lyon, fourth, remain level on points with third-placed Saint-Etienne but their form on the road is proving costly for Garde’s men as they still look for their first away win of the season.

And things do not get any easier in the coming week, with Lyon travelling to second-placed Marseille on Wednesday before hosting champions Montpellier on Saturday.

“There is always pressure, before Marseille, before Montpellier,” Garde said.

“It’s also a good way to revive ourselves.

“We did not manage to put any pressure on Toulouse. We didn’t know how to reply to their direct style of play. Their physical impact in the first half was really important. It was an intermittent game, with lots of fouls. We had trouble defending.

“While there are more difficult games than others, once again Toulouse played across all the field, they troubled us by dodging our lines and by using their physical strength. It’s true that we played better in the second half when they were up 1-0.

“I changed some players to try to come back and we were punished at the end of the game. I prefer to lose one time 3-0 than three times 1-0.”