Alexandre Lacazette accused the officials of bias after Paris Saint-Germain beat Lyon 3-2 with a 95th-minute winner, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored Lyon’s equaliser in a match that left the home side furious.
Lacazette, who left Lyon in the summer for Saudi side Neom SC, took to social media soon after the final whistle to write, “Well done OL. Not easy at 11 vs 12.”
His message came after Lyon lost to PSG in stoppage time, reigniting long-running frustrations over refereeing standards in France.
“It’s totally annoying to take a goal like that at the end,” said Corentin Tolisso. “We have to do better on refereeing in general because there are mistakes every weekend.
“I saw Monaco’s red card for Balogun against Lens, it was ridiculous. When Khalis Merah in Rennes got stamped on and there is nothing. We don’t understand what’s going on.”
Assistant coach Jorge Maciel was equally critical. “When it’s always for us, it hurts me, because it’s unfair,” he said. “There are 59,000 people at the stadium, there are only four of them who didn’t watch the fouls. We don’t even have to watch the slow motion.
“When it only happens one way… We don’t understand. When it happens in arrogance, without even having the opportunity to discuss… On the other hand, they are the best team in Europe, they don’t need to play with 16, because I count VAR too.”
Lyon’s director of recruitment, Matthieu Louis-Jean, added: “There’s a penalty on Zabarnyi, he handles the ball, it’s very clear. On Tessmann, there’s a foul before PSG’s second goal, he catches his knee, it’s extremely clear. We don’t know what to do anymore. We asked them questions, we tried to understand… But what do we have to do to get proper refereeing?
“It’s distorting our league. We can go back to the match in Rennes as well, among others… Mr Bastien’s refereeing was a disaster. It’s the first time we’ve spoken out because we’re helpless, it’s a lot for us, what can we do? We’re fighting with what we have. They give us red cards every match… we’re tired of it.”
Maitland-Niles, now 28, played in right midfield for Lyon and scored a superb goal in the 50th minute to bring his side level at 2-2.
Now in his third season at the club after joining on a free transfer in 2023, Maitland-Niles previously spent time on loan at West Brom, Roma, and Southampton before leaving Arsenal permanently.
The former Arsenal academy graduate has divided his time between midfield and full-back since moving to France and has started 11 of their 12 Ligue 1 games this season.
Lacazette, meanwhile, remains a Lyon legend after his departure.
The former Arsenal forward scored 201 goals in 391 games (with 55 assists) for the club over two spells, captaining them before his move to Saudi Arabia with Lyon keen to move him and his large wages on.