Edon Zhegrova in duel with Nicolas Tagliafico lors de Lille – OL (Photo by FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP)
Amorphous during the first half, OL also gave Lille the opener on a missed back pass from Maitland-Niles. The Lyonnais showed character to equalize, but still let points slip away with this draw (1-1).
This time, we would finally know. In the Lyon revival in September, an opponent of a certain caliber was missing to know whether OL were calibrated for the top of the table or not. The Lyonnais would certainly have liked to arrive in Lille with other certainties in terms of accounting after the defeat against Besiktas and the draw against Auxerre. But the linear performances in the game led us to believe that the bad situation in terms of results would not have an impact on the face of the Rhone residents. This Friday evening, the manner was only present for half-time, but the Lyonnais left with a point and a positive end to the match. Pierre Sage's players had the opportunity to catch up with the Mastiffs, they kept their deficit by three lengths with this draw snatched at the end of the match (1-1).
Glaring individual errors in the first
Unlike Auxerre, OL did not have the excuse of turnover to explain their poor performance in the north. Sage had logically chosen to align his best eleven on paper around a 4-3-3 which had proven itself in recent weeks. However, the day after Halloween, the Lyonnais chose to wear the Casper costume, as they were absent from the debates for 45 minutes. Jostled by the incessant pressing of Bruno Genesio's team, OL had to manage waves and were guilty of individual errors.
A first alert after a missed pass from Niakhaté towards Perri (9th) with Angel Gomes who misses the frame, we don't know how. Then a Meunier bar deflected by Tagliafico (13th). However, these hot actions did not serve as a lesson and on another failed back pass from Maitland-Niles, Jonathan David was quick to beat Perri and open the scoring (1-0, 17th). Pierre Sage's players were not in their right mood for 45 minutes and almost did well to come home with a goal behind at the break. Because Lille hit the post a second time on a shot from Gomes (32nd).
A more attractive face in the second half
A sign of destiny to hope for a new rise? In any case, the face of Lyon was much more in line with the pre-match ambitions. OL pushed to come back to the score. In the space of six minutes, Lacazette missed a big opportunity (52nd), Veretout crossed his volley too much (54th) while Ainsley Maitland-Niles saw his outside hit the post. Behind an incisive Cherki who hit the bar (70th), the Rhone team thought they could equalize with their English side (77th) but an offside position from Niakhaté left Lille in front. But, once again, Lyon's character was rewarded with Fofana's equalizer at the start of added time. With a double face, the Lyonnais finally leave with a good point, even if it does not move them forward in the ranking.
