Memphis Depay scored a hat-trick including two penalties as Champions League semi-finalists Lyon began the new French season with a 4-1 vic...
Memphis Depay scored a hat-trick including two penalties as Champions League semi-finalists Lyon began the new French season with a 4-1 victory over Dijon on Friday.
Dutch forward Depay bagged his first Ligue 1 goals since December, having missed the coronavirus-shortened second half of last season after rupturing knee ligaments just before Christmas.
“I’m really happy to have scored three goals tonight. It wasn’t my best match personally. We needed to win and that’s what we did,” said Depay.
“It’s a strange feeling going from one season to another very quickly,” he added, with the game coming just nine days after Lyon’s 3-0 loss to Bayern in Lisbon.
Lyon sporting director Juninho has said there will be departures before the end of the transfer window on October 5 as the club heads into its first season without European football since 1996-97.
Depay, along with Houssem Aouar and Moussa Dembele, have repeatedly been linked with moves but the 26-year-old insisted he is concentrating on helping Lyon make a run at ending Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance.
“I’m focused on OL. I can dream of big clubs but I’m looking to do my best here,” said Depay, who doesn’t believe the lighter schedule this season is necessarily a plus.
“I don’t think not playing in Europe is an...
