Olympique Lyon thrash nine-man Nimes to go fifth in Ligue 1

Olympique Lyonnais made the most of Nimes having two players sent off in the first half as they thrashed Ligue 1`s bottom side 4-0 away to climb to fifth in the standings on Friday.

Nimes midfielder Theo Valls was shown a straight red card when the game was barely four minutes old for a studs up challenge on teenager Maxence Caqueret and Memphis Depay put Lyon ahead in the 16th minute with a `Panenka` penalty.

The home side`s problems worsened when Gaetan Paquiez earned two bookings within three minutes to leave Nimes with nine men in the 40th minute and Dutch international Depay doubled Lyon`s lead in the 64th with a superb low strike from distance.

Houssem Aouar`s deflected strike and a long-range effort by Joachim Andersen completed the rout to leave Lyon on 25 points after 17 games, level with sixth-placed St Etienne who are in action at Stade Reims on Sunday. Nimes are 20th on 12 points.