Décines-Charpieu (France) (AFP)
Always on a wire: after his frustrating setback to go to Lisbon, Lyon put things in place by dominating not without fear Benfica (3-1) Tuesday, and is back in the right path to the qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Nothing seems easy for OL this season, but this time it was enough. Jostled by the reduction of the score of Haris Seferovic (76th), the Lyonnais got away thanks to Bertrand Traoré (89th) at a time where hung the memory of Lisbon. For the stage of the Luz two weeks ago, despite the domination, it was a defeat (2-1) that ended the game, the fault of a ball of the goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
But Tuesday, the two early goals of Joachim Andersen (4th) and Memphis Depay (33rd) gave Rudi Garcia's men the margin they needed to make up for their lack of confidence.
"As we lost them outside, we have to take the points back home," Garcia had demanded the day before. On the accounting side, it is rather served: with seven units, his team, 2nd in a group G affordable, distance of three and four points Zenit St. Petersburg and Benfica.
- First series for Garcia -
Perhaps he would have preferred that Leipzig did not win in Russia (2-0), which gives two points ahead to the Germans two days from the end of the group stage ... But when we know the recent situation club Rhone, between the dismissal of the former coach, Sylvinho, and the catastrophic month of September without victory, Garcia will not be accused of lack of ambition if his club finished the hens with the second place.
On a personal level, the former OM coach will note that this success allows him to tip the balance of the good side since his arrival in mid-October: three wins in five games, and especially three in the last three games. And to offer the Lyon public a home win in C1, a rare commodity - only three since 2011!
In terms of the game, he will remember that his eleven works: after having already lined up Toulouse Saturday for a victory in extremis (3-2), he chose the stability by the successful renewal, against Lisbon. Which could give him ideas before the "Olympico" of Sunday in Marseille.
- Always "convalescent" -
But he will probably not change his speech immediately, he who was still talking Monday a team "convalescent" and "fragile" offensive imprecision and big defensive mistakes have indeed not been erased in a few days, even if this time, goalkeeper Anthony Lopes has found his usual acrobatic parades.
The Benfica had his head upside down for an hour. To make matters worse, coach Bruno Lage had to quickly do without his central defender Ferro, whose loss of consciousness and stretcher out gave chills to his teammates. And Eagles fans, not as noisy, by the way, that one could have imagined until the reduction of the score.
It is in this climate that most of the game has settled, with, as often this season, Depay to the maneuver. Author, on a perfect service Houssem Aouar, his eighth goal on his last seven matches in all competitions, the 50th he scored with the jersey of OL, the Dutchman also initiated the opener of the score of Andersen, on a harmless corner played three. Before leaving his place, from halftime, for a thigh pain according to several media.
A maneuver, too, one of the players criticized early in the season, the Brazilian Thiago Mendes. Arrived from Lille to become the boss of the middle, he disappointed fans until then. But his reconquest continues: one of his defensive returns (65th) provoked one of the most beautiful ovations of the second period.
© 2019 AFP