Les Gones took just eight minutes to take the lead, as the Eagles couldn’t deal with Ernest Nuamah’s corner, resulting in the ball bouncing off Jaydee Canvot and sitting up invitingly for Corentin Tolisso to instinctively convert.
Tyrick Mitchell faced a tough task against Nuamah, who was the bright spark in a half that largely saw the teams cancel each other out, and the left-back also fired harmlessly off-target at the other end.
Nuamah then climbed above Mitchell to get his head on Tolisso’s cross, although his effort was punched away by Walter Benitez.
Ismaila Sarr’s header was tipped over 36 minutes into his first start in any competition this season, but a mix-up saw him shown a yellow card for handball.
Moments apart, a telling block at either end saw Felix Bacher get in the way of Sarr’s shot before Canvot stopped Nuamah following dazzling footwork from Keito Nakamura.
There was no stopping the pair when they linked up again moments before half-time, though, as Nakamura once again laid the ball off for Nuamah, who provided a clinical first-time finish.
Palace got off to a far more positive start in the second half and were rewarded within five minutes of the restart.
A short corner routine culminated in a brilliant Adam Wharton finding Yeremy Pino, who emphatically smashed his shot into the roof of Dominik Greif’s net with the visitors’ first shot on target.
Jorgen Strand Larsen sent one header wide and another over before Abner headed on target with Lyon’s first effort of the half, which Benitez tipped over well.
Palace still kept coming forward with Greif throwing his 6’6” frame in front of Daichi Kamada’s poked effort from point-blank range.
They were hit with a major blow with a quarter-hour remaining, though, as Pavel Sulc flicked Nakumara’s shot away from the diving Benitez and into the bottom corner.
Calamitous defending was punished by Kamada to offer the visitors renewed hope just five minutes later, but Greif was equal to Chris Richards’ header as Lyon held out.
That ensured Lyon would make it two wins out of two in this Europa League campaign and recorded a sixth straight group stage/league phase victory in this competition for the first time in their history.
In doing so, they also ended Palace’s three-match unbeaten run in all competitions and inflicted just the second defeat from the Eagles’ last 13 European outings.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Keito Nakamura (Olympique Lyonnais)
