Cork's Jake O’Brien scores the winning goal to give Lyon their first win of the season 

YOUGHAL'S Jake O’Brien was the hero for Lyon on Sunday night as his first goal for the club gave them their first league win of the season, against Stade Rennais.

The Youghal native headed in a Saël Kumbedi cross at the back post in the 66th minute, and it finished 1-0 to Les Gones at Roazhon Park.

The three points are vital to Lyon as they look to move off the bottom of the Ligue 1 table and avoid relegation.

O’Brien joined the club during summer from Crystal Palace and the defender became the first Irish player to feature in the French league since Tony Cascarino when he started against Reims last October.

He is now a consistent starter in a team managed by Fabio Grosso, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006.

All of this comes just over two years after O’Brien moved to Crystal Palace from Cork City, the club that first introduced him to senior football.

The defender – who once lined out for Youghal United – came through the club’s academy before stepping up to the first team under Neale Fenn in 2019.

He played one full season in the League of Ireland Premier Division before joining Palace on loan, and that move was made permanent in the summer of 2021.

The defender was later sent on loan to Swindon Town so he could gain experience of competitive first team football in the English system.

O’Brien was then included in the Palace team for a preseason tour of Asia, and he featured for the club in a game against Liverpool.

He spent the 2022-23 season on loan at R.W.D. Molenbeek and he helped them win the Challenger Pro League title and promotion to the highest level of the Belgian football pyramid.

O’Brien’s stock rose so quickly that a seven figure big was made for the defender during the summer of 2022 by a club in the City Football Group and Palace rejected it. There was also reported interest from Bristol City, with the EFL Championship club eager to sign the Youghal native on a permanent basis.

Lyon – one of the most successful clubs in the history of French football – won the race for his signature.

It hasn’t been the smoothest of transitions for O’Brien as the Les Gones have been in a constant state of crisis since he arrived.

Laurent Blanc – who won the World Cup with France in 1998 – was originally in charge at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais and he was sacked over the relegation threat earlier in the season.

Lyon will now look to build on the win over Stade Rennais with a squad that contains international stars Nicolás Tagliafico, Alexandre Lacazette, and Dejan Lovren.