Duisburg held to draw as Lyon soar

FCR 2001 Duisburg were denied victory by a last-gasp VfL Wolfsburg penalty as they resumed their Frauen-Bundesliga campaign on Sunday but their UEFA Women's Cup semi-final opponents Olympique Lyonnais remain in unstoppable form in France.

Duisburg held
Duisburg went into the winter break in fourth place, nine points adrift of leaders FC Bayern München with two games in hand. The first of those was played at the weekend, with the main fixture list not resuming until 21 February, and things began badly for visitors Duisburg when Martina Müller gave Wolfsburg a 21st-minute lead. Inka Grings, recently recalled by Germany, equalised just before the hour and Linda Bresonik edged Duisburg in front with 18 minutes left but as time ran out, Navina Omilade converted a spot-kick to give eighth-place Wolfsburg a point. "My team only carried out in the second half what we talked about before the match, I wasn't satisfied at all with the performance in the first half," said Duisburg coach Martina Voss, whose side are up to third ahead of Sunday's visit of Bayern. "Three of my four defenders played weakly."

Lyon in form
Lyon will line up against Duisburg on 28 March and 5 April and look on course for a third straight French title. Unbeaten in the league since 10 September 2006, Lyon returned to action after the winter break on 10 January with a 5-0 win at Stade Briochin FF and eight days later beat Toulouse FC 2-0. That was followed by an invaluable 2-1 success at main title rivals Montpellier Hérault SC, Camille Abily scoring the winner with ten minutes left, and on Sunday Lyon triumphed 3-0 at bottom side FC Vendenheim, two Sandrine Brétigny goals added to late on by Louisa Necib. Lyon hold an eight-point lead over Montpellier, who have a game in hand. The other UEFA Women's Cup semi-finalists, Umeå IK and Zvezda-2005, commence their 2009 league seasons on 25 March and in mid-April respectively.