Lyon were held to a disappointing goalless draw by a spirited Le Havre team at the Groupama Stadium on Sunday evening.
It was their first match since the dismissal of manager Laurent Blanc during the international break, but the change in the dugout had no immediate effect. Lyon were still lacking in creativity and cohesion. New manager Fabio Grosso will have a lot to work on when he takes over on Monday morning.
The interim management team made a few changes to the starting lineup, pairing Mata with Diomande in central defence, and giving a début to midfielder Paul Akouokou. Nuamah and Cherki were either side of the returning Lacazette in the front line.
It was a fairly turgid and uneventful first half, with both teams enjoying periods in the ascendancy, but neither coming close to opening the scoring. Lyon raised the tempo and began to play with a bit more urgency after the interval, but became increasingly vulnerable to the counter attack.
It was one such move that produced the outstanding chance of the game, when Grandsir met a cross at the far post with an open goal at his mercy but ballooned his shot high and wide, much to the relief of the home fans.
Lyon did manage to apply some pressure and create a number of half chances as the game wore on, but nobody was ever in quite the right place to apply the finishing touch and the score sheet remained blank. At least the point gained lifts Lyon off the bottom of the Ligue 1 table.