Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365: published on Thursday January 23, 2025 at 9:42 p.m.
Find our tops and our flops after the draw (0-0) between Fenerbahçe and Lyon in the Europa League.
The tops
The Lyon midfielder did the job
Lyonnais and Turks did not offer a great meeting (0-0) Thursday evening to Istanbul spectators and television viewers after Wednesday's treat between Paris-SG and Manchester City (4-2) in the Champions League, it is heard. In the middle of all this, the Rhone midfielder nevertheless had the merit of showing himself solid. In the 4-2-3-1 system aligned by Pierre Sage, Nemanja Matic and Corentin Tolisso won the game on points against José Mourinho's formation arranged in 3-4-3. The Croatian brought his technical touch and we even saw him in a winger position. The Frenchman scored one of Lyon's 7 precise shots in the 39th (13 shots in total).
Egribayat rejected everything
There was no goal in Istanbul on Thursday evening, but there were still a few strikes. Dominant, the Lyonnais, who will still have to wait to get their ticket to the round of 16, fired 13 shots at the opposing goal. 7 were on target and were all stopped by Irfan Can Egribayat. The 26-year-old Turkish goalkeeper, starting in the absence of Croatian Dominik Livakovic (injured), did not make an extraordinary save but he did what was necessary in front of Corentin Tolisso, Rayan Cherki or Saïd Benrahma, and is most highlighted.
-The flops
Mikautadze, it's insufficient
Established at the forefront of the Lyon attack for the third time in a row, Georges Mikautadze failed to shine. Scorer in the Coupe de France against Bourgoin-Jallieu and silent against Toulouse (0-0), the Georgian missed out again in Türkiye. After a corner raised by Rayan Cherki on the right, the 24-year-old dared an acrobatic scissors at the 2nd post which landed outside the opposing frame (27th). And then, that's practically it… Apart from a few combinations with his teammates, it's a very poor result for the striker, who came off in the 80th minute.
A strange arbitration
The least we can say is that the arbitration of this Fenerbahçe-Lyon was curious. Two episodes could have changed the match, concerning Olympique Lyonnais, and fortunately the Rhone team escaped, without us really understanding the coherence of the lot. In the 31st minute, Saël Kumbedi could have been sent off directly after delivering a nasty tackle to Sebastian Szymanski's feet. And, despite the complaints of the Turkish players, Simone Sozza only issued a yellow card to the young Lyonnais. In added time of the first period, the Italian referee then brandished a red card in front of Niakhaté, author of a bleeding tackle on Kahveci, before finally changing his mind after examining the images at the edge of the field and finally releasing a yellow card. A fair decision since the defender played the ball without hurting the Turk.
