Lyon beats Crystal Palace 3-2 on Sage’s return

Crystal Palace lost 3-2 to Lyon in the Europa League on October 15, as manager Pierre Sage suffered defeat on his return to the club he previously led. Lyon scored twice before half-time, then held on after Palace fought back with goals from Yeremy Pino and Daichi Kamada. Corentin Tolisso opened the scoring for the hosts, and Ernest Nuamah added a second late in the first half. Palace had no shots on target before the break, and Sage said afterward that his side had fallen well short of his expectations in both its mental and tactical performance. Pino cut the deficit five minutes into the second half, finishing after a passing move that began with a short corner. Lyon restored its two-goal advantage when Pavel Sulc turned in an effort in the 76th minute. Substitute Kamada scored with less than 10 minutes remaining, but Palace could not find an equaliser. Goalkeeper Dominik Greif preserved Lyon’s lead with a late save from a header by Chris Richards. Sage told PalaceTV that Palace struggled when it lost possession and was poorly positioned between the lines in the first half. He said the team played better after the break but could not win after performing to its level for...