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League leaders Lyon had Sylvain Wiltord’s second-half equaliser to thank for a share of the spoils at Bordeaux’s Stade Chaban-Delmas on Saturday.
Just three days after demiloshing Real Madrid 3-0 in the Champions' League, Gérard Houllier's side were brought back to earth by a tenacious Bordeaux outfit, ultimately unlucky not to claim all three points.
In view of the champions' congested calendar, Houllier has made no secret of intention to rotate players. As a result regular captain Caludio Caçapa given the night off while midfielders Tiago and Wiltord found themselves watching the first half from the bench.
However, the first casulaties of the Houllier reign could well be France internationals Benoît Pedretti and Pierre-Alain Frau who were surprisingly dropped to the reserves for Saturday's game.
Bordeaux began pressing from the outset and could have been awarded a penalty as early as the third minute when Brazilian defender Cris appeared to handle in the area.
However, Les Girondins didn't have to wait long before summer signing Vladimir Smicer gave them the lead with just six minutes on the clock. Having picked up possession nearly 40 metres out from goal, Smicer profited from an unusually absent Lyon midfield to bare down on goal, jinking past Sylvain Monsoreau and firing his low shot across Grégory Coupet for his first goal of the season.
The home side then invited Lyon forward while looking to hit on the counterattack thanks to an dazzling performance of dribbling and possession football from new Brazilian winger Denilson.
Lyon were unable to find a way through the Bordeaux back-four and it was Coupet that kept his side in the game with three crucial saves just before the interval, twice denying Jean-Claude Darcheville and a Rio Mavuba volley.
With the hosts continuing to dominate Houllier decided to inject some fresh blood into an obviously tiring side. His audacious triple substitution on 62 minutes was repaid almost immediately when - two minutes later - Wiltord swept home a Anthony Réveillère in a carbon-copy of his strike against Real on Tuesday.
Pushed on by their public, Bordeaux dominated the closing stages and had the ball in the back of the net again as Fernando Menegazzo slid the ball home, after Darcheville had headed against the woodwork, only to see the effort ruled out for offside.
The result, Lyon's second draw of the season, means the champions extend their lead at the top to four points over Paris Saint-Germain while Bordeaux move into third outright with 12 points ahead of the weekend's later games.
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