The Toulouse International Cup kicked off on Friday, as Liverpool were hit for six by Olympique Lyonnais and then Manchester City went down 4-2 to Montpellier.
Montpellier might well have scored when Stina Blackstenius got clear but Steph Houghton did well to block her before the ball was cleared off the line and then headed over by Valerie Gauvin.
Although Man City were awarded a penalty for handball, Nikita Parris saw her effort saved by Meline Gerard and within two minutes, Gauvin got in behind the City defence to coolly slot into the bottom corner.
Sakina Karchaoui was played through one-on-one to finish at the near post and turned provider before the break, with Gauvin volleying her cross into the top corner.
@MontpellierHSC
Blackstenius forced Ellie Roebuck into a fine stop before Gauvin headed over, with the French League runners-up adding their fourth on 51 minutes with Sandie Toletti’s long-range drive.
Jane Ross came off the bench to pull one back with a lobbed finish on the hour and she further reduced the deficit late on, when smashing the ball past Gerard.
The Lyon line-up (olweb.fr)
Champions League holders Lyon took just 9 minutes to open the scoring against Liverpool through BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year Ada Hegerberg, who met Camille Abilly’s cross with a powerful header.
Laura Coombs had an effort saved by Bouhaddi before Lyon doubled the lead midway through the first half, when Hegerberg was on target again, this time from an Elodie Thomis centre.
It was 4-0 by the hour mark as Eugénie Le Sommer bagged a brace in under a dozen minutes. both times being set up by Dzsenifer Marozsán.
Melvine Malard then made it 5-0 after 73 minutes, before Marozsán completed the scoring late on.
Sunday sees the second and final round of cup ties, as Liverpool meet Montpellier and Man City face Lyon.
Pictured top – Nikita Parris pressures Montpellier (mancity.com)
