Lyon beat their visitors Nice 2-1 on Sunday evening, bringing the curtain down on the seventh round of the French league season.
Egyptian defender Mohamed Abdelmonem started for Nice and picked up a yellow card in the 48th minute.
Abdelmonem also caused the sending-off of Lyon's Kaito Nakamura in the 70th minute. He left the pitch himself in the 81st.
The Foot Mercato website ran through the main talking points of the match, with Lyon turning things around in the first half through Pavel Sulc and Tanner Tessmann before holding out against Nice's attacks in the final 20 minutes a man down.
Missing Tolisso, Nuamah, Morton and Greif, Lyon still took a grip on the game from the outset. Long spells of possession and a high press meant Paulo Fonseca's side monopolised the ball, yet they couldn't pose any real threat to Yehvann Diouf's goal.
It was Nice who opened the scoring. From their first real attack, Jonathan Clauss broke down the right before delivering a precise cross to Elye Wahi, whose direct strike nestled in the tight corner of Remy Descamps' goal on 18 minutes.
Lyon's dominance was rewarded with an equaliser in the 32nd minute. Duranville burst down the left, Diouf repelled his powerful shot, and Sulc followed up perfectly to bury the ball in the net for 1-1. Two minutes later, from a free kick taken with a short pass between Boudaoui and a team-mate, Atikam sent in a cross that reached the head of Tanner Tessmann, who gave Lyon a 2-1 lead in the 34th minute.
Superior in individual duels, sharper technically and ferocious in winning the ball back, Lyon's players ended the first half deservedly ahead, having held 60% of possession and registered seven shots.
After the restart, Lyon initially maintained their control. Duranville continued his lively work down the left. Nice, though, unlike in the first half, gradually began to create danger around their opponents' goal.
From a set piece taken by Clauss, Axel Witsel rose to meet it with a header that struck the crossbar of Descamps' goal in the 52nd minute. A few minutes later, Nkunku tried his luck with a powerful effort from the left side, forcing Lyon's goalkeeper to intervene and push it away.
Passing accuracy improved, the ball moved quicker and Nice hunted it down harder. They began to take the initiative in attack and succeeded in unsettling Lyon's defensive organisation. Even so, Lyon remained capable of creating danger on the counter, particularly when Boudaoui wasted a chance with a lack of precision on the final touch, following another burst from Duranville. Fonseca's players showed clear defensive solidity and preserved their lead despite the mounting pressure from Nice.
Then came the decisive turn in the 70th minute. Around 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute for Duranville, Nakamura was sent off with a straight red after unintentionally planting his studs in Abdelmonem's chest during a challenge for an aerial ball. Down to ten men, Lyon had to face a Nice side who had gained a considerable psychological boost from their numerical advantage.
Three minutes later, Wahi came close to a second personal goal, meeting a cross from Nkunku with a header that struck the post on 73 minutes. In stoppage time, Wahi scored a goal that was ruled out for offside.
Victory lifts Olympique Lyonnais to the top of the French league on 14 points, while Nice remain stuck on 8 points in 13th place.