Zagreb, Croatia, Dec 8: Lyon swept into the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday after a stunning 7-1 victory over 10-man Dinamo Zagreb in its final Group D match.
The French club, which needed to turn around a three-point deficit on Ajax, along with a goal difference of minus 7, pulled off the astonishing feat with help from Real Madrid's 3-0 victory in Amsterdam.
The set of results catapulted Lyon from third to second in the group, behind the already-qualified Madrid.
Bafetimbi Gomis led the rout with four goals including a seven-minute hat trick—the fastest ever in the Champions League—while Maxime Gonalons, Lisandro and Jimmy Briand provided the rest.
The defeat left the Croatian champions rooted to the bottom of Group D with no points from six games. The 22 goals conceded were a record for the Champions League.
Dinamo took a 1-0 lead through 17-year old midfielder Mateo Kovacic before midfielder Jerko Leko was sent off for his second yello card.
Lyon piled on the pressure in search of an equalizer and drew level on the stroke of halftime, when Gomis bundled the ball over the line after Aly Cissokho's deflected cross sailed over the stranded Dinamo goalkeeper Ivan Kelava.
Lyon came charging out after the interval with Gonalons turning the ball home after a corner kick in the 47th minute before Gomis found the back of the net from 13 meters just a minute later.
Gomis scored again in the 52nd from a sharp low cross which he tapped in from close range. Second half substitute Lisandro made it 5-1 the 64th minute.
Gomis scored his fourth goal five minutes later, meeting another cross that ended in the top left corner past the Dinamo goalkeeper. Briand completed the rout when he fired home from the edge of the penalty area.
“This was a painful but useful lesson for my inexperienced team,” Dinamo coach Krunoslav Jurcic said. “Hope the next time we'll be better in the elite competition.”
