Lyon warm up for season-opener with Milan draw

Lyon ended their pre-season preparations on a positive note as Jimmy Briand’s fine finish secured a 1-1 draw against Italian giants AC Milan in the Emirates Cup on Sunday.

Claude Puel’s side kick off their French league campaign against Monaco next weekend and they will go into the fixture in confident mood after a fluent display in the pre-season tournament at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

Despite trailing to a goal from Marco Borriello early in the second half, Lyon hit back to level through Briand and could easily have finished as comfortable winners.

“Towards the end of the game we really got into our flow and pushed them a lot,” Puel said.

“Maybe we will look back on some missed chances but I lost count of how many chances we created. I would be more worried if we didn’t create opportunities.

“There are still things we can work on. We need to fine-tune a few things. We won’t be at the level required straight away but we have to improve in each match.”

It is two years since Lyon were last crowned French champions, but expectations are high at the Stade Gerland after last season’s strong finish in the league and an impressive run to the Champions League semi-finals.

After fielding a reserve side for Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Celtic, Puel sent out a strong line-up as he looked for a morale-boosting win ahead of the Monaco clash.

Lyon made a bright start and could have been ahead in the early stages when Miralem Pjanic tricked his way past two defenders before driving a shot against the near post.

Milan are only in the second week of their pre-season preparations but the Italians were still able to grind out a 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Saturday.

Massimiliano Allegri’s team played a slow tempo for long periods but they sprang into life when Alexander Merkel flicked on toward Daniele Bonera, whose close-range volley brought a brave stop from Hugo Lloris.

It wasn’t long before Lyon were back on the offensive and France striker Briand forced Marco Amelia to save with his legs after firing in a low shot from Gomis’s pass.

Lyon had been the better team in the first half but Milan took the lead in the 55th minute.

Borriello started and finished the move as the Italian striker chased a long pass over the top of the Lyon defence, forcing Lloris to race out to block.

Simone Verdi pounced on the loose ball and showed good composure to pick out Borriello, who was able to beat Jeremy Toulalan to the pass and poke home from close-range.

Briand was denied by Amelia as he raced into the penalty area, only for the Milan goalkeeper to make another block with his legs.

Ederson wasted a golden opportunity to equalise as the winger hammered a shot against crossbar with just Amelia to beat.

Lyon were finally rewarded for their pressure in the 79th minute when Pjanic crossed to the far post and Briand got in front of Massimo Oddo to power home a diving header.

Briand should have won it for Lyon in the closing stages but clipped his shot wide from close-range.