The Lillois Save the Day!

By: Inara | October 31st, 2007

First of all, apologies to anyone who decided to watch the first 75 minutes of Lyon’s Coupe de la Ligue match against Caen. If you’re like me, you might have been wondering which team was newly promoted and which team had won their sixth title. If logic was anything to go by, you’d assume Lyon dominated top flight wannabes Caen, but actually it was the other way around.

I can’t even begin to describe my horror at watching Lyon get footballing lessons from a team whose market value is less than the cost of Fred alone.

Don’t let the relaxed nature of this photo deceive you. Lyon were forced to work really hard.

About the game itself, two of Lyon’s three goals were scored by ex-Lille duo Kader Keita and Mathieu Bodmer. It was poignant for Bodmer because he started his career at Caen, and it was especially poignant for Keita, because he’s been having trouble establishing himself at Lyon. The third goal was scored by Karim Benzema. Two assists were provided by Hatem Ben Arfa. Raise your hand if you’re surprised.

The other interesting thing of note is that Fred was given his first start since last May. His performance wasn’t the greatest, but it’s not that he looked bad out there, just winded and out of shape. It’s clear that he still has some work to do before he’s back in top form. Oh, and you know who else looked good? Perennial bench boys Fabio Santos and Nadir Belhadj. If my name was either Jeremy Toulalan or Fabio Grosso, I’d be feeling very nervous about my position on the starting X1.

It was very alarming to watch Lyon’s defense (makeshift as it is) cut wide open every ten seconds by the quick movement of Caen’s attackers. The fact that Perrin had to put Benzema and Juninho onto the pitch to wake the team up was another cause for concern, as Lyon can’t start depending on individual players. What was beautiful about the Lyon of the past few years was that they weren’t dependent on certain players - they played as a unit. I’d hate to see that vanish this year.

I’ll keep this match review short because there really isn’t much to say except that Lyon have to stop with the suckitude when it comes to cup competitions - even the boring ones. Lyon are three games away from winning their first domestic cup since 2001, so let’s pray that Juninho & Co. don’t mess it up like they do every other year.

Just to random things to point out. First, if you’re wondering why the shirt sponsors are different, it’s because the LFP imposes their own sponsors on the Coupe de la Ligue, and all teams have to sport it. For the Coupe de France, the FFF forces their own sponsors onto the teams. Also, I thought it was quite festive that Caen busted out with the Halloween kits (which look eerily like Lorient’s).

Secondly, Benzema has now scored in every competition he’s played in so far. His tally is now at 15 goals!

I’d love to post extended match highlights, but this being a rather ignored competition in what is already an ignored footballing league, I can offer only clips of the goals. Oh, and pictures of course.

The Goals:

Caen 0 - Lyon 1; Keita 15

Caen 1 - Lyon 1; Grandin 30

Caen 1 - Lyon 2; Bodmer 75

Caen 1 - Lyon 3; Benzema 89

Match Photos: