The first leg of Europa League round of 16 tie between Porto and Lyon ended with the French side snatching a 1-0 away win on Wednesday night.

Lyon only needed a goal from Lucas Paquetá to return home with their heads held high and their morale up as they depart the Estádio do Drago.

Lucas Paquetá in action for Lyon vs Porto

The home side made to this point having initially been eliminated from the Champions League, ranking third in their group and they also conquered Lazio 4-3 on aggregate in a play-off to advance to the Europa League’s final 16.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧!

Full time in Porto and we're heading home with a 1-0 win!#FCPOL #UEL pic.twitter.com/IuXfWo8Wvo

— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) March 9, 2022

The visitors, on the other hand, are unbeaten in the campaign this season as they won five of their group stage games and drew the other, placing first in their group.

Despite both teams having clear opportunities, the game ended goalless at halftime.

The Portuguese team started the second half brightly but fell behind after Paqueta scored into the bottom corner after Dembele flipped the ball back to him on 59 minutes.

The goal was first disallowed owing to Dembele’s offside, but VAR proved that the French forward was in fact onside, and the goal was awarded to Lyon, making the score 1-0.

VAR intervenes and the goal stands! https://t.co/N4CWtfz0TF

— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) March 9, 2022

Just four minutes later, the hosts felt they had a penalty to pull them back into the game as the referee signaled to the spot after Paqueta handled in the box.

However, after having a look at the VAR screen, the referee opted to reverse his verdict and withdrew the penalty awarded.

Sérgio Conceição’s players picked up the pace late in the game and believed they’ve secured their reward when Mbemba dinked into the net in extra time, but the centre-back was judged offside, and the game ended 1-0 in favor of the French side.

🎙“The next game will be different. We are in the middle of the tie. We will prepare the game to win it.” – Sérgio Conceição.

🎙”We created enough opportunities to leave here with another result. We left everything on the field, but we have the second leg to solve the tie.” – Vitinha added

It was a fantastic victory for Lyon, who will go into the home leg with a goal lead.

🇧🇷 Lucas Paquetá, Lyon warrior 🦁

Tidy finish, too 👌#UEL pic.twitter.com/I5iEU1hRCm

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) March 9, 2022

They’ll obviously take their chances of progressing to the quarter-finals, if not farther.

🎙”It’s not over. We never give up, we go into every game to win and there we’ll go in with everything to win. I’m sure that in France it will be different.” – Galen

Porto now faces a difficult assignment, and if they are to advance in the tournament, they will need a strong showing in France in a few weeks.

According to Lyon player – Maxence Caqueret

🎙“It was a match with a lot of intensity, like a Champions League match. We have a one-goal lead but nothing is over yet. We will have to build on this in the return leg.”

𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕? 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒙 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘!