Moussa Niakhate: Lyon defender urges calm after Marseille loss

Senegal defender Moussa Niakhate has urged the Olympique Lyon squad to put behind last Sunday’s defeat at Olympique Marseille behind them and forge ahead.

Lyon allowed the chance to strengthen their position in third slip at the Stade Orange Velodrome after suffering a 3-2 loss.

Niakhate played six matches as Senegal won AFCON

Lyon shot ahead through Corentin Tolisso and Remi Himbert before Marseille fought back to claim all three points through Igor Paixao and Pierre Aubameyang’s late brace.

Moussa Niakhaté says that, there is no need to allow the deal to destabilize the squad.

“They played with incredible intensity because they needed to win to stay up. Habib Bèye asked them to play with high intensity, and that was to be expected.

“Not getting any points after the match we played is very difficult. We could have done better because we had several scoring opportunities (…) By losing, we’ve put the suspense back into Ligue 1 because Lille, Rennes, and other teams have won.

“That’s good for the pundits, but we’ll take responsibility,” he told Ligue 1+.

Lyon remains in third place on 45 points, two points ahead of Marseille and five ahead of Lille and Rennes after 24 matches played this campaign.

Niakhate, 29, played six matches as Senegal defied the odds to beat hosts Morocco 1-0 to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, a second for the Teranga Lions.