Olympique Lyonnais offered themselves a new derby at Groupama Stadium against AS Saint-Étienne (1-0) thanks to the inevitable Alexandre Lacazette. The Greens still struggled in defense.
TOPS
The elusive Fofana
They went through hell. The Boakye-Maçon duo suffered the offensives of the new X factor of Les Gones, Malick Fofana. The Belgian was untenable in the first period with a series of breakthroughs on the left, dangerous crosses (15th, 18th) and rejected shots (27th, 34th). It is precisely he who causes the decisive corner. In the second half, he was the most active player on the OL side despite the drop in performance. Already the scorer of five goals this season, the former Gantoise player has definitely found his place in Lyon’s eleven.
The General at attention
Who else than Alexandre Lacazette to unlock the meeting. The one we nicknamed the “General” allowed the Lyonnais to take the lead. In a position that he knows well as a good surface fox, the scorer took a Caleta-Car header extended by Tolisso with his knee to score the only goal of the match (28th). Without showing off too much, the French international could have opened the scoring a few minutes earlier (26th), but his low shot found the post. It is already his sixth goal in a Derby and his fifth of the season in all competitions.
Larsonneur alone in the world
If ASSE did not take another beating, it is mainly thanks to their goalkeeper and captain Gautier Larsonneur. The former Brestois was close to the perfect match. Decisive from the first dangerous shots, he disgusted the Gones with his reflex saves (25th, 27th). On Lacazette’s goal he has nothing to reproach himself for. If his teammates did not raise their heads after the opening score, he remained in his match. Offering several more saves (32nd, 45+2), he allowed the Greens to return to the locker room with a small goal behind. Still solid in the second half, he did the irreparable in the 81st minute. Fortunately his missed clearance hit Mikautadze’s arm before Nuamah pushed the ball into the goal. An offensive hand which cancels the goal and allows the Dall’Oglio goalkeeper to stay on a nice personal note.
FLOPS
The defense of the Greens still on the streets
It’s starting to do a lot. As since the start of the season, behind the Greens are not there at all. Caught on each of Lyon’s offensives in the first half, they could have relived the debacle in Nice. Fortunately, this time, ASSE did not take eight thanks to its goalkeeper. And yet, the full-backs had a bad evening. Too slow and too feverish, Yvann Maçon and Léo Pétrot often ran after their respective counterparts. In the middle, if Batubinsika delivered a rather decent performance with several good interventions (18th, 24th), Nade was not in the mix. With (already) 25 goals conceded in 11 matches, only Montpellier is worse than Saint-Étienne behind (31 goals conceded).
Green with rage
In the 21st century, in his garden Lyon is the only king of the Derby. Still no victory at Groupama Stadium for the Greens, their last success dates from 2014 at Gerland (a 2-1 success). This Sunday, despite the clear domination of Les Gones during the first act, there was really room. Sissoko even had the equalizing ball at his feet on a quick counterattack (75th). Terrible statistics since 2000 in 22 matches in Lyon, the Stéphanois have only won two matches for six draws and fourteen defeats. Even more humiliating, Alexandre Lacazette has alone won more Derbys in the 21st century than Saint-Étienne (7 against 6).
