OL Toulousified: Elmander 1 - Lyon 0

By: Inara | August 12th, 2007

Saturday’s game was all about the Swedes.

Johan Elmander has once again proved to be Lyon’s undoing, but this time he had help from fellow countryman Kim Kallstrom.

Can Aulas just buy Elmander already? At least that way he’d stop scoring against us.

The first thirty minutes of the game was all Lyon. Kader Keita had a goal refused for being offside while Karim Benzema hit the post twice. Even Juninho’s freekick could have been a goal.

But things started going downhill when Sidney Govou went off injured (thigh injury…what else) at the 26th minute. But before we even had time to digest that blow (he’s actually been playing well these past few weeks), Kim Kallstrom got red carded for foul language and because he spit in the direction of the fourth official.

For Lyon, playing with ten men wouldn’t always be a death sentence, but Toulouse is a strong team - and a smart one too. They diverted their attacks through the midfield, forcing Keita and Nadir Belhadj (who came on for Govou) to track back and defend.

Once the second half started, it got worse. Keita, growing increasingly frustrated, almost got Lyon a second red card for a reckless tackle on Sissoko. And at the 62nd minute, Elmander crashed into Cris, which caused the Brazilian to hurt his knee. He had to be stretchered off the pitch and was replaced by a not-entirely match fit Sebastien Squillaci.

Lyon hardly ever saw the ball while Toulouse took an extreme amount of pleasure in tiring out Lyon players. Bryan Bergougnoux, a graduate of OL’s youth academy, took turns with Achilles Emana and Jeremy Mathieu in terrorizing Lyon’s defenses. With Toulouse gaining momentum with each passing minute, and with Lyon slowing down, it was a miracle we were still in the game. There were many moments when Lyon almost conceded a goal.

Despite all this, Lyon were still in the game, albeit barely. It looked like they could salvage a point from the encounter, but in stoppage time, Elmander decided to show everyone why he is one of L1’s hottest commodities by scoring a nifty little goal all by himself.

Match Highlights:

Post-game thoughts: I’m not disheartened by today’s loss. Toulouse are a good team, and there isn’t anything shameful in losing to them. Lyon put up a good fight, but with ten men and with key players injured…well, I’m glad they only conceded one goal. For those out there happy that the Lyon has a chance to get relegated, I’d like to point out that both times Lyon faced Toulouse last year, they failed to achieve a win (one draw, one loss) - and that was with Tiago, Florent Malouda, and Eric Abidal on the pitch.

What is more worrying is the fact that Lyon’s injury problems have officially become a crisis. We won’t know the extent of the damage to Cris’s knee until tomorrow, but early opinions aren’t cheerful. It’s possible that he’s torn a knee ligament, and if true, he faces a long recovery.

His wound, coupled with the fact that Patrick Muller pulled a muscle two days ago, means that Lyon’s remaining central defender is Squillaci, who is just getting back from injury himself. There is also Sandy Paillot, a youth player, and Mathieu Bodmer, who can play as a central defender tolerably well.

Cris may be sidelined for several months.

Tactically, it’s clear that Lyon are defensively vulnerable. Even though Perrin reverted back to the 4-3-3, OL were shaky. The backline keeps on getting exposed, and should Cris be out of action for a few months, Lyon may have to splurge on a last-minute defender (but I wouldn’t read too much into it, because not only were we missing a midfielder, we also lost Cris).

The one positive from this match was Jeremy Toulalan, who managed to shine despite being surrounded by suckiness all around. Raymond Domenech was in the stands watching and undoubtedly put a checkmark next to Toulalan’s name.

Interestingly, the captain’s armband went to him after Govou was subbed out, even though Juninho was still on the pitch. Could it be that Juni is not even in the chain of command anymore?

Karim Benzema also performed well. He came close to scoring several times today, and may have done so had he also not been forced to track back and help defend.

Match Photos: