Rising star Aouar scores twice as Lyon beats Amiens 2-1

PARIS (AP) - Days after being linked with a potential move to Barcelona, teenage midfielder Houssem Aouar scored twice as Lyon rallied to win 2-1 at Amiens on Sunday.

The win moved Lyon above defending champion Monaco on goal difference and into second place, nine points behind runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain.

Aouar started and finished the move that drew Lyon level in the 79th and calmly volleyed in the winner four minutes into injury time.

The 19-year-old Aouar is the latest young talent to come through Lyon's prodigious youth academy, and was recently supervised by Barcelona. His astute passing, and skill and composure on the ball, are all attributes that reportedly pleased the Catalan giant.

Aouar is equally adept at cutting in from the left - which he did for Lyon's equalizer - or sitting in a more central midfield role.

Over the years, Lyon's academy has given young players the chance to shine by bringing them into the team quickly. It has produced Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette and Nabil Fekir, the club's top scorer this season and another player widely tipped to move to a bigger club in the summer.

With 11-goal Fekir kept quiet, Aouar rescued Lyon against a confident Amiens team that scored in the ninth minute through forward Serge Gakpe's close-range finish.

Lyon thought it had equalized in the 18th but forward Memphis Depay's free kick was ruled out because Lyon defender Kenny Tete was offside.

Aouar's equalizer was credit to his perseverance and talent.

Coming in from the left, he beat two players, fed a pass to midfielder Tanguy Ndombele and then sprinted to slide home Ndombele's pass across the penalty area.

After Amiens forward Gael Kakuta hit the post with a penalty 10 minutes later, Aouar's winner sparked scenes of jubilation on the Lyon bench. Striker Mariano Diaz burst into the area and, rather than shooting, cleverly sent a looping pass toward the left post where Aouar volleyed the ball neatly into the right corner.

Lyon coach Bruno Genesio, who had earlier been banished from the bench, sprinted ecstatically down the dressing room corridor after Aouar's winner.

Later Sunday, fifth-place Nantes was hosting struggling Nice, and fourth-place Marseille faced Saint-Etienne.

PSG and Monaco won their games on Saturday.