“The mistake that Lille made was to leave us alive.” Very happy with the draw (1-1) won by OL on the Lille pitch at the beginning of November, Pierre Sage analyzed the match on the 10th day of Ligue 1 in this way, initially largely dominated by Losc before the Lyon reaction. There is no doubt that the Rhone technician will say the same thing to himself at the end of the game concluded with the same score by his men this Saturday in Reims, for the 12th day.
Stuck in a difficult period off the field after the decision taken by the DNCG, on November 15, to demote the club as a precautionary measure at the end of the current season due to its very poor economic situation, OL are would give some air by imposing himself. It didn’t happen.
A sparkling Cherki
In great form despite the heavy context around the club, Rayan Cherki and his partners created countless chances at the start of the match, coming up against an almost impregnable Yehvann Diouf. Point-blank shot from Saïd Benrahma (11th), curled shot from Cherki (16th), powerful recovery from Alexandre Lacazette (29th)… The last rampart in Reims delayed the deadline for a long time.
Once again sparkling this Saturday, Cherki finally led his partners to the opening score. Isolated in the middle of the area, the French attacking midfielder (21 years old) took advantage of the work of his captain Lacazette to deceive Diouf with a beautiful cross header (0-1, 38th). Previously, Lyon had already come close to opening the scoring, but the goal signed by Benrahma had been refused for a slight offside by the Algerian international (7th).
Reims revolted
But as has often been the case since the start of the season, it was a two-faced OL who presented themselves in Champagne. After largely dominating the first act, Pierre Sage’s group suffered the Reims revolt. If Junya Ito lacked realism when he was well placed at the entrance to the area (54th), this was not the case for Oumar Diakité, present to convert a scramble in the area by Lucas Perri into a goal. following a corner (1-1, 56th).
The affair could have gone even worse if Luka Elsner’s men had been more skilful in front of goal, like Keito Nakamura’s shot which went well over the top after a lightning counter-attack ( 72nd). The Japanese international then had the match point, catching at close range a ball pushed back by Perri after a heavy strike from Teddy Teuma, but the Brazilian goalkeeper saved his side at the end of added time (90th + 6).
Lively, the meeting finally ended in a logical draw, which allows OL to temporarily remain in the top 5 of Ligue 1, in 5th place, pending the meeting between Nice and Strasbourg on Sunday evening.
