It’s Getting a Little Hot Under the Collar

By: Inara | September 23rd, 2007

Surprisingly - and unfortunately - Lyon were held to a 1-1 draw by Lille - at home. I expected the scoreline to be in Lyon’s favor, but in hindsight, I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised.

Les Dogues kept Benzema on a short leash.

The game from start to finish was an even affair. I don’t think either team dominated the other for long periods of time. Lille used their strong midfield play to keep Juninho and Mathieu Bodmer quiet, so most of the action happened on the wings. Early on, Karim Benzema came close a few times, but it was Lille who scored first, with Michel Bastos nailing an absolute beauty. Lyon’s man-marking might have been a bit off (either Francois Clerc or Sebastien Squillaci), but that shot came out of nowhere, and Remy Vercoutre had no chance.

In the second half, Benzema was quieter, though Kader Keita had his best game in a while, constantly running up and down the flanks on either side, finally offering his first assist in a Lyon shirt. The goalscorer was Sidney Govou, who doggedly went past two defenders before he could take his shot.

The goals:

Lyon also scored two other goals, but one was ruled offside while the other was a Hand of God (both by Milan Baros). Also, Fabio Grosso got into a shoving match with everyone’s favorite Swiss hothead, Stephan Lichtsteiner.

Lille had a very, very good game today. They were careful to keep Lyon’s danger players (Juninho, Keita, Govou, and Benzema) tightly marked at all times. While I wish Lyon hadn’t dropped two points at home, this draw with Lille is by no means embarrassing. In fact, I wonder just why Lille aren’t doing better in the league because if they approached every game like they did with today’s, they would be in the top three.

As for Lyon, you could tell that the post-Barca slump was still in effect. Some players looked rather sluggish on the pitch, especially Juninho. I’m not sure if it’s because of the Perrin thing or if he’s just tired, but he needs to get his act together. Not only were his free kicks crap, but even his corners were pretty much useless. Though he did have one gem that connected with Bodmer’s head - it would have been a goal if not for the superhuman reflexes of Tony Sylva (such an underrated goalkeeper).

Speaking of goalkeepers, Vercoutre had a great match. He’s getting better and better as the season progresses, which makes me wonder if he made a mistake at staying as Gregory Coupet’s backup for so many years. Tonight’s match was also big for Cleber Anderson, who started the match. I thought he did a good job and was much more reassuring than Bodmer in defense. Anderson was timely on his tackles and formed a good partnership with Squillaci.

Perrin’s discomfort is obvious.

Three negatives from this match. FirstPerrin looked stressed out the entire game, and after the game ended, he looked awfully tense, as if he was expecting a bad phone call. Not that he should worry - Aulas jumped to his defense in a post-match interview, where he not only backed Perrin but also accused French journalists of creating a polemic around Lyon.

Thanks for keeping it real, Jean-mimi.

Also, Benzema picked up a slight knock to his knee in the first half. While it was minor and allowed him to reenter the game, it’s a reminder that he’s still a growing boy (he’s only 19), and Perrin needs to be careful not to overplay him, or worse, not pay attention to his weariness.

The other bad thing is that Juninho still looks like he’s irritated though on OLTV he said he wasn’t. After the game ended, he unceremoniously stomped off the field, tearing off his captain’s armband in the process. Could someone tell him to relax?

Sure, Lyon are in fourth place right now. But I’m totally not stressing because Lyon will eventually get to first place. Maybe the team isn’t playing thundering football like last year, but I would rather have a quiet season that yields more results (like AC Milan last year) than one that’s filled with excitement but no substance (umm…Lyon in 2006).

Lyon will find the balance they are seeking. I still think that this season could be bright for OL.

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