Monaco 0 - 3 Lyon: Goals and Gymnastics Galore as Kader Keita Steals the Show

By: Inara | March 15th, 2008

I present to you the resurgence of Kader Keita…

Goals: Lyon (Keita 20, 38; Fred 35)

Tactics:

Coupet
Clerc - Cris - Boumsong - Grosso
Bodmer - Toulalan - Kallstrom
Keita - Fred - Benzema

The only surprise was Sebastien Squillaci being dropped in favor of Jean-Alain Boumsong, who hasn’t played since the first leg of the Champions League knockout rounds against Manchester United. Perrin decided to do with Kim Kallstrom in midfield, instead preferring to sub Marc Crosas into the match in the second half.

The front three were expected - Hatem Ben Arfa once against started on the bench.

Player Performances:

Good performances all around. No player can be pointed out as poor today. It was just efficient team play. Gregory Coupet was happy that he didn’t have much to do, while the Cris-Boumsong axis was solid and reassuring. Not that this in anyway endangers Sebastien Squillaci’s place - it’s just that Perrin is finally able to rotate his defense without a drop in performance. After all, defenders get tired too, and Squillaci has been playing nonstop since early August. Both fullbacks, Francois Clerc and Fabio Grosso, had reassuring performances as well.

Jeremy Toulalan and Kim Kallstrom mopped things up in midfield while also keeping Monaco quiet. They allowed Mathieu Bodmer the same amount of freedom that Juninho usually gets. Bodmer had another outstanding performance in midfield today - he essentially created the last two goals.

No longer a loser.

Up front, both Karim Benzema and Fred had good games. Despite being played out of position, Benzema was able to create spaces for himself, sent that beautiful cross which led to the first goal, and could have had a goal or two himself if he hadn’t been a bit too selfish. Fred added to his goal tally today and was getting into the right positions at the right times.

As for Kader Keita…dare I say that we’re finally seeing the merging of Lille-Keita and Lyon-Keita? He was this close to beating Florent Malouda for L1 MVP last season, and his high flying performances propelled Lille into the knockout rounds of the CL. Lyon shelled out €18m for him - the most expensive transfer of the history of the club - and it seemed like he was well worth it. Unfortunately, his first few months at Lyon saw him unsettled and agitated as he saw himself become just “one of the guys” whereas at Lille, he was the guy. He eventually was pushed to the bench by Hatem Ben Arfa and Sidney Govou, and it looked like he was destined to be the flop of the year.

But after a successful African Cup of Nations campaign with the Ivory Coast (he scored three goals), Keita returned with more confidence. He finally scored his first league goal with Lyon (his only other OL goal was in the League Cup back in October) last weekend against Bordeaux. Perhaps that’s what was needed to open the floodgates because today, Keita scored a brace. Both goals were very pretty and full of quality and definitely not simple tap ins. Additionally, one of his shots hit the post - it was the rebound that Fred scored from. Of course he still has a ways to go to justify his pricetag, but we can hope that he’s finally ready to show us - and the world - why he’s so highly thought of.

Match Analysis:

Lyon walked all over Monaco in the first half, which was when they scored all three goals. However, the second half saw them easing off and simply containing Monaco. Perhaps Perrin told them to do so - with so many critical matches coming up, it’s important for the team to preserve themselves. However, Lyon were guilty of being complacent at times, and had Monaco thought to be dangerous today, they could have hurt Lyon in the second half.

Defensively, it’s nice to see that things are stable back there. Gregory Coupet and Cris have brought back confidence, and it makes you wonder what would have happened had they not been injured back in August…Even the fullbacks are learning how to work with the rest of the team. Very nice.

Hopefully, this will become a familiar sight.

Offensively, it’s pleasing that Lyon have other options on the days when Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Juninho are having off days. Especially promising is the reappearance of the complicity between Mathieu Bodmer and Kader Keita, something that had made them such a dangerous pair at Lille. Before, Lyon’s problem used to be that they could only get through if a select few individuals shined. But hopefully, more players can contribute to Lyon’s success. That’s the mark of a big team - that anyone can be dangerous.

Lyon have a grueling month ahead of them. After next Wednesday’s French Cup match against Sochaux, they will host PSG at home and then travel to Marseille and Valenciennes. None of these are easy opponents, and Lyon will need to be at their best to come out unscathed. At the very least, Lyon need to win against Sochaux, PSG, and Valenciennes if they want to keep their dreams of a double alive.

Since Bordeaux don’t play until tomorrow, Lyon have opened a temporary nine point lead on second place (though Bordeaux are playing Strasbourg at home, so they’ll probably win). It’s important that Lyon get all the points they can because unlike last year, there is no “safety zone” in case they fall into a crap streak.

Fun fact: Not only did Lyon break the curse of not winning at Monaco, but this is the first time in their history they’ve scored more than two league goals at the Stade Louis II.

The goals:

Photos: