Carried by a Ngal'ayel Mukau exceptional in attacking midfielder position and very successful individuals, LOSC defeated Bologna (1-2) this Wednesday in Italy. From 5 to 9, discover our ratings after this match counting for the 5th day of the Champions League.
Man of the match
The evening of dimension change. Aligned in an unusual attacking midfielder position, a first in his career, Ngal'ayel Mukau (9) beamed. Double scorer – with his right foot moreover – thanks to a good presence behind in the area (44′, 66′), the 20-year-old midfielder distinguished himself in all areas. Fundamental in the high pressure phases, where the Congolese was alongside Jonathan David to lock the opposing central hinge and could even have caused another goal (48′), he had great activity until his heroic exit for Hakon Haraldsson (86′). Europe now knows “Gala”.
The satisfactions
In line with an impressive start to the season with regularity and reliability, Gabriel Gudmundsson (7) once again delivered a successful and authoritative performance. Impregnable defensively, he extinguished Riccardo Orsolini, Bologna's main weapon, with remarkable one-on-one skill and athletic power. In addition to an offensive performance that is still very high, with great ease under pressure (27′), long and sharp calls to surprise the opposing defense and a solitary rush right into the area of which he has the secret (55′). A complete and impeccable service, like LOSC.
Pour Ayyoub Bouaddi (7), the evenings of the Champions League follow one another and are similar. At just 17 years old, the Lille community still exudes the same serenity. Especially since he did not hide, taking great responsibility in the construction to break the opposing line of pressure. If he sometimes lost potentially dangerous balls (11′, 24′), he above all initiated numerous LOSC movements (27′, 55′) with technical ease still above average, in addition of a commendable defensive slaughter. He could have magnified a new beautiful copy with a purpose. In vain (83′), without anyone blaming him.
Right winger replacing Edon Zhegrova not at 100%, Matias Fernandez-Pardo (6), left winger or even center forward by training, did not need benchmarks to shine. The Belgian certainly concedes an avoidable free kick and is synonymous with an equalizer for Bologna (63'), but for the rest, the former La Gantoise player shone with his volume of play, his ability to be a constant poison and a personality to underline for such an inexperienced player at this level. Immediately leggy and dangerous (1′), he always sought to play forward and made big differences (3 successful dribbles out of 5, 8 duels won out of 13) by being involved in a number of hot situations for LOSC (4′, 40′, 48′, 69′, 73′), including his quality on the corner (13′), until offering the victory ball to Mukau after a lot of percussion work (1-2, 66′).
He was not decisive or successful in front of goals (1′, 4′, 73′), but Jonathan David (6) was a valuable asset for LOSC. By his volume of play without the ball, both in pressing and in construction, the Canadian greatly contributed to the Mastiffs. He was a decisive passer – without it being counted as such – on the opening score by being opportunistic on Bologna's daunting recovery error (1-0, 44′). Lille thought they feared the worst when his ankle turned at the start of the second half. More fear than harm for the indispensable number 9 of LOSC, who quickly returned to coal.
The disappointment
It's hard to say that he really has, but Thomas Meunier (5) was a slight notch below all his teammates. Sometimes struggling to manage one-on-one and depth against the restless Dan Ndoye, the right side also gave up a few balls too quickly when he was under pressure (11 ball losses). Above all, he is the main culprit on the equalizing goal by neglecting Jhon Lucumi to score (1-1, 63′), even if the shot is magnificently kicked by Riccardo Orsolini and the responsibility is also collective . Among the first salvo of changes made by Bruno Genesio and replaced by Aïssa Mandi (73′), solid to maintain the advantage.
Enzo PAILOT
Bologna – LOSC notes:
Chevalier (6) – Meunier (5), Diakite (6), Alexsandro (6), Gudmundsson (7) – Bouaddi (7), André (6) – Fernandez-Pardo (6), Mukau (9), Sahrawi (6) – David (6)
Photo credits: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images
