Lyon 5 - 0 Strasbourg - A Walk In the Park

By: Inara | December 2nd, 2007

Until this afternoon, Strasbourg had the second best defensive record in the league. But 90 minutes later, they were left behind on the sidewalk as Lyon strolled to a comfortable 5-0 win. This game is especially notable for Francois Clerc, who scored his first league goal ever.

Kim Kallstrom scored a brace.

The goals: Lyon (Kallstrom 12, 81 pen, Juninho 19, Benzema 64, Clerc 77).

Tactics:

Vercoutre
Clerc - Squillaci - Anderson - Grosso
Juninho - Toulalan - Kallstrom
Govou - Benzema - Ben Arfa

I was hoping for more player turnover since besides Clerc, the rest are starters. However, Alain Perrin got it right this time because the squad simply exploded, not just scoring but creating a lot of plays. One thing to note is that the forward line is very fluid, with all three attackers - Sidney Govou, Karim Benzema, and Hatem Ben Arfa - exchanging places frequently. This makes them difficult to mark while also allowing them the freedom to utilize the space available to them. This is the kind of Lyon we’d like to see in Europe.

Also if you’ve noticed, statistically, Lyon don’t maintain a lot of possession. While they had the majority of it today, 55% possession seems low for a 5-0 scoreline. Keep in mind than Lyon’s wins over Bordeaux and Stuttgart saw them with a minority of the possession. This is a change from last year, when Lyon kept the ball for long periods of time without ever doing anything with it.

Player Performance:

Remy Vercoutre was immense today! Don’t let the scoreline fool you - Strasbourg had some great chances and could have had two goals if it hadn’t been for Vercoutre’s reflexes. I’m especially thinking of Pascal Johansen’s rocket that Vercoutre got a hand too. Just magnificent. I think we can all safely say that Vercoutre is getting better and better as the season is getting on. Sebastien Squillaci and Anderson had a good game, though Squillaci was better of the two. He needs to be careful because he’s being carded more frequently than usual. Either he’s being infected with the Phillipe Mexes syndrome or he’s decided that being a nice guy doesn’t pay when Cris isn’t next to you.

Fabio Grosso did alright. Nothing much to report on his side of the pitch. But Francois Clerc on the other hand had a great game! He just owned that right flank, ran up and down the pitch, was good defensively, and even topped his performance with a pretty goal. There was some confusion as to whether this was his first goal or not - it turns out Clerc did score in the French Cup last season against amateur side Laon, but today was his first league goal against professional players. So that explains why he was so excited. Anyway, watching Clerc today, I can understand why Raymond Domenech keeps calling up Clerc for the NT even though he’s not a starter at Lyon. He’s not a finished product by any means, but he’s got potential.

Clerc scored a well-deserved goal.

The midfield was dynamite as usual. Juninho is getting better and better, and watching him out there, I can’t believe he’s 32 years old. Even better, his free kicks were all amazingly accurate, and if it hadn’t been for the Strasbourg keeper, Juninho could have scored a hat trick just with his free kicks. This makes it 7 goals in the last 6 games for him. Kim Kallstrom continued his streak of good playing by scoring a brace today. Additionally, it was nice to see him flaunt his creativity all over the pitch. He’s a very nice compliment to Juninho. As for Jeremy Toulalan - he’s just perfect. A fifth defender. He’s everywhere. Underrated as always, he’s one of the team’s most important players.

Karim Benzema, who hasn’t scored in over a month, was happy to reopen his account with Lyon’s third goal of the night. He also assisted Kallstrom’s first goal. Hatem Ben Arfa kept running through the defenders and distracted them a lot, and same goes for Sidney Govou. Neither of them scored, but both contributed a lot to Lyon’s attack and defense.

The substitutes were Milan Baros, Kader Keita, and Mathieu Bodmer. Of the three, Baros had the most impact, and though he didn’t score, he had some great runs and provided a beautiful back heel assist for Clerc’s goal. Keita was trying really hard but just didn’t have enough time to settle into the match, and Bodmer hardly played at all today.

Match Analysis:

It was nice to see Lyon run rampant without having to push themselves, and in a league known for its dearth of goals, seeing a 5-0 scoreline can really lift your spirits (unless you’re Strasbourg). However, the scoreline masked Lyon’s defensive inadequacies, and though we didn’t concede any goals tonight, it was obvious that Anderson and Squillaci are having problems at communicating. If it’s a language issue, can someone please teach Anderson some basic French vocabulary?

Unlike last year, where Lyon was known for their defensive tightness, the Lyon of this year is more free scoring than usual. Goals are prolific not just for the front three but for Juninho and Kallstrom, two other attacking players. The team is getting better at breaking down defensive sides.

Most of the match was spent in Strasbourg’s half.

Lyon is nearing the height of their confidence, and I’m hoping we can continue this performance next weekend when we travel to Caen, a team that gave us a lot of trouble during the CdL match in October. This will give us a good platform for when the team travels to Scotland. Obviously Lyon have the talent and experience to walk away from Ibrox with a win, but they need confidence and self-belief. Judging from the performances I’ve been seeing recently, I can’t wait for December 12th.

One interesting thing I want to add - as manager of Portsmouth, Perrin had four victories out of 20 games. This year, Perrin has had 16 wins out of 20 games. Facts like this make me think that Lyon is a self-run club. Does it really matter who the manager is when it comes to Ligue 1? Maybe we could get someone like Marcello Lippi to consult on Champions League games.

Match Highlights:

Match Photos: