Second half comeback helps Lyon seal 27-24 win over Sale Sharks

Lyon 27-24 Sale Sharks, Matmut Stadium de Gerland
Scorecard

A late resurgence from Lyon saw them make a spirited comeback to win the European Challenge Cup encounter against Sale Sharks at Matmut Stadium de Gerland with a tight 27-24 margin on Friday.

Fly-half Lionel Beauxis got Lyon off the mark with a sixth minute penalty but back to back tries from Denny Solomona (8') and Sam James (14') followed by a double conversion from Faf de Klerk put Sale Sharks clear by 11 points.

At the stroke of half time, full back Delon Armitage went past the line for the home side and the gap came down to just one point after Beauxis slotted the extras.

After the first 15 minutes of the second half went without a point, James soon scored his second try with de Klerk's conversion and penalty taking Sale Sharks' lead to 10-24 at the end of the third quarter.

Just as it looked like Sale Sharks will register their first win of the tournament, Liam Gill (67') and Theo Balan (70') helped Lyon level the scores leading into the final 10 minutes and it was replacement Frederic Michalak, who kicked the decisive penalty to take them to a three point victory.

Steve Diamond's men, who drew their opening game against Toulouse are at the bottom of Pool 2, though they have three points while Lyon moved to the second position.