Lacazette scores but Lyon's defense falls apart in 3-1 loss
PARIS (AP) - Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette remembered how to take penalties but his teammates forget how to defend in a 3-1 home loss to Guingamp in the French league on Saturday.
A fifth defeat in six games heaps the pressure on Lyon coach Bruno Genesio.
After finishing second last season, Lyon is down in eighth place and trails leader Nice by 10 points, having played a game more.
"I sense that I am in difficulty. I won't run away from my responsibilities," Genesio said. "I'm not thinking about my own situation, we have to face up to this."
Lacazette, who scored 48 league goals in the past two seasons, went some way to making up for his midweek penalty miss against Juventus by scoring from the spot near halftime.
On Tuesday, his penalty was saved by Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and the miss proved costly as Lyon lost 1-0.
But Swedish goalie Karl-Johan Johnsson does not have the presence of Buffon, and Lacazette made no mistake this time, drilling a low shot down the middle as Johnsson gambled wrongly by diving to his right.
It was his seventh league goal of the season and third from the spot. The penalty was given after midfielder Maxime Gonalons was fouled by Moustapha Diallo.
Lyon deserved to be ahead but then fell apart at the start of the second half.
Striker Yannis Salibur scored within a minute of the restart and midfielder Marcus Coco made it 2-1 after turning in veteran forward Jimmy Briand's cross.
Shortly after the second goal, Lyon's fans displayed a banner reading "Stop Les Excuses ... Gagnez" (Stop the excuses ... Win).
Lacazette was upended in the area and should have been awarded a penalty midway through the second half.
But Coco scored again and Guingamp finished the stronger side with teen midfielder Ludovic Blas going close to making it 4-1 in injury time.
"It's a big blow on the head for us, a massive disappointment," Genesio said. "I feel for the players, the president and the fans."
Monaco won 6-2 on Friday to move up to second spot.
Nice plays away at Metz on Sunday, while in Sunday night's big game third-place Paris Saint-Germain takes on bitter rival Marseille.
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Toulouse missed the chance to move up to third place after drawing 0-0 away to eighth-place Angers.
Meanwhile, winger Kamil Grosicki scored twice in the second half as sixth-place Rennes rallied to win 2-1 at Nantes, which took the lead through striker Emiliano Sala.
Bordeaux, which led through former France winger Jeremy Menez, is in seventh place after drawing 1-1 at home to last-place Nancy.
Dijon moved closer to mid-table thanks to a last-minute winner from defender Jordan Loties against Lorient, which slumped to last place.
Elsewhere, striker Eder - the scorer of a dramatic winner in extra time to help Portugal beat France 1-0 to win the European Championship final in July - was on target as struggling Lille beat Corsican side Bastia 2-1.