On Sunday, February 21st, Lyon had the opportunity to find
the podium after the drawn match of Saint-Etienne and Nice this weekend. It was
necessary for Lyon to win in Lille, which plays to stay in League 1. And all we
can say is that Lyon come back from this match more weakened than before …
The game
OL had found his virtues in the game these last weeks, and
lost them in Lille. In a new plan in 4-2-3-1 because of the absences of
Gonalons and Tolisso, Lyon were ineffective at the same time in recovery and creation.
But they were also beaten in the energy by more determined, more united, more
concentrated Lille players. The LOSC (Lille team) was not brilliant, but they
were efficient by standing out on free kick, before neutralizing Lyon’s players,
too much worried on disputing the arbitration decisions instead of concentrating
on their game.
Concerning Lyon’s players, few of them were good. Lopes realized
beautiful stops, as usual. He was, with Umtiti always solid at the back, the
best Lyon’s players yesterday. For the others, the technical correctness and
the energy were not there. Lacazette fell again into his faults and was non-existent
in the game, even if, it is necessary to say it, he was not helped by his partners
who do not give him good passes. Valbuena was again transparent, without having
any influence in the game.
A match under high voltage
It is important to remind the stake in this match in order
to try to understand players’ nervousness. Lyon could return to the 3rd place
of league 1 in case of victory, and get closer to Monaco while Lille absolutely
had to win to hope to stay in league 1. So, there were a lot of pressure in
both teams and we have seen the effects on the ground. Mr Bastien, the match’s referee,
distributed 12 yellow cards and 2 red in this match, what proves the
aggressiveness and the nervousness of certain players. Lyon’s players seemed
late on numerous contacts, and disputed the referee’s decisions like Jallet or
Grenier. They both took a yellow card further to a contesting, before being expelled
definitively by taking a second yellow card.
An evening with damages
Olympique lyonnais lost a lot this evening. First, they
remain 5th and 10 points separate them to the second place. It is already a big
disappointment for the team which had the real ambition to end 2nd at the term
of the season. Furthermore, Jallet, Grenier and Umtiti will be absent against
Paris further to their suspension (due to red or yellow cards). These absences
are added to those who are wounded: Tolisso, Fékir, and probably Gonalons.
No, it was not really the evening of Lyon …
Go on, Gones !
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