Cameroon striker Karl Toko Ekambi was the hero for Lyon as his late effort helped snatch a 1-1 away draw against Alexander Djiku’s Strasbourg in Ligue 1 on Sunday.
Ibrahima Sissoko gave the hosts a first-half lead but the Indomitable Lion netted a last-gasp equaliser to salvage a point for his side in the matchday 31 fixture at Stade de la Meinau.
It was Toko Ekambi’s eighth goal of the season for Lyon who occupy the 10th position on the league table.
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Strasbourg, meanwhile, sit fourth on the log.
While the Cameroonian was the only African player in Lyon’s first XI, the hosts’ starting set-up featured Ghana defender Djiku and Cote d’Ivoire midfielder Jean-Eudes Aholou.
Sissoko broke the deadlock in the 20th minute, beating an offside trap to head home from Ludovic Ajorque’s perfectly-weighted delivery into the box.
It was then agony after agony for the visitors as Anthony Lopes and Houssem Aouar had to be replaced in the 30th and 62nd minutes, respectively, due to injury.
As though there had not been enough forced substitutions in the game already, Strasbourg’s Anthony Caci had to go off for Frederic Guilbert in the 74th minute due to injury.
Ten minutes later, Lyon were forced into another injury-induced substitution as Tanguy Ndombele went off for Jeff Reine-Adelaide.
The hosts appeared on course to win all three points until the 90th minute when Toko Ekambi pounced on a loose ball at the far post to stab home the equaliser from close range after Strasbourg’s defence failed to appropriately clear a cross into the box.
The Cameroonian played for the entirety of the game, as did Djiku for Strasbourg but Aholou was hauled off in the 70th minute.
Zimbabwe striker Tino Kadewere came on for OL in the 62nd minute but Senegal forward Habib Diallo and Mali attacker Dion Moise Sahi were both unused substitutes.
Strasbourg will be hoping to return to winning ways in their next match against Troyes while Lyon will have a similar ambition when they take on Bordeaux.
Both Toko Ekambi and Djiku are expected to feature for Cameroon and Ghana, respectively, at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
