'Dream start' as Reims shock Lyon to go top in France

Reims (France) (AFP) – Promoted Reims went top of French Ligue 1 on Friday when they shocked Lyon 1-0 for a second successive victory.

The only goal of the game came from Argentine striker Pablo Chavarria after 32 minutes.

That was enough for the three points after Reims had opened their campaign last weekend with a 1-0 win over Patrick Vieira’s Nice.

“It’s a dream start,” said Reims goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. “We worked all last season to get here and now that we are here we want to show what we can do.

“After two games against Nice and Lyon, there aren’t many people that would have expected us to get six points. 

“Since I was little, I dreamed of playing in the elite league. Today is a great reward, but we know it will be a job to keep it up every weekend.”

Once Chavarria had opened the scoring with a header from a cross by Ghislain Konan just after the half-hour mark, Reims then defended in numbers just like they had done last week in Nice.

Lyon had chances to grab a point late in the game but captain Marcelo headed wide of the mark from a Memphis Depay free-kick while a Bertrand Traore attempt was kept out.

“We were trapped,” said Lyon midfielder Lucas Tousart. “They defended well and we didn’t know how to find a way through their defence.”