Lyon Soar to Europa League Top, Forest Continues Winning Streak

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Olympique Lyonnais rose to the top of the Europa League standings with a dominant 6-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv, led by Corentin Tolisso's hat-trick. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest maintained its winning momentum with a convincing 3-0 win over Malmo. In a match played at the TSC Arena in Serbia, Lyon took the lead in the fourth minute with Abner Vinicius tapping in a cross at the back post. Tolisso nodded in a cross to double the lead after 25 minutes, and Moussa Niakhate converted a penalty 10 minutes later after Sagiv Jehezkel fouled Pavel Sulc. The French side's captain, Tolisso, scored two goals in quick succession after the break, and Adam Karabec sealed the win just past the hour mark. Maccabi, who had Jehezkel sent off in added time, languish in second-bottom place with one point. Forest manager Sean Dyche made seven changes to the side that started Saturday's 3-0 win in the Premier League at Liverpool, but the hosts still had little trouble against Swedish visitors Malmo. The sides had met in the 1979 European Cup final, won 1-0 by Forest, and at the City Ground on Thursday, the hosts strolled to their third consecutive win in all competitions. Nikola Milenkovic's attempted cross was blocked, and the ball fell for Ryan Yates, whose first-time finish flew past goalkeeper Melker Ellborg to give Forest the lead in the 27th minute. Forest then went in search of a second, Ellborg parrying away a powerful shot from Arnaud Kalimuendo, and Milenkovic's header from the resulting corner brought another save. A second goal was coming, though, and, after Yates' header was saved, Kalimuendo was there to hook the rebound into the net and score his first Forest goal one minute before halftime. Forest were cruising, and after Malmo failed to clear a corner, the ball dropped to Milenkovic, who made no mistake from close range to put them three up in the 59th minute. Real Betis moved up to fifth with a 2-1 victory over visiting Utrecht, while Rangers earned their first point but let a lead slip to draw 1-1 with 10-man Braga. Lyon are on 12 points, level with second-placed Midtjylland and Aston Villa, who beat Young Boys by the same scoreline in the earlier games.