TOPS
The Lyon environment
The Lyon environment was imperial this evening. For their first meeting as a duo, Maxence Caqueret and Tanguy Ndombele showed an amazing complementarity. The first, in his sober style, kept scratching balloons in midfield. And once the ball was at his feet, he very often made the right choice, with Toko Ekambi as a privileged partner for his openings (15th, 30th). For his part, Ndombele remembered the good memories of Groupama Stadium. The midfielder on loan from Tottenham multiplied the technical sweets, without complaining about a good defensive slaughter. Evidenced by his tackle on Kluivert, followed by a sublime outside of the foot to launch Moussa Dembele (19th). In the second period, when Nice outings became even rarer, it was Paqueta who took over offensively. With several small bridges and light openings, the Brazilian crushed the defense of the Aiglons. It lacks a recovery on the edge of the surface which would have initialed the capital benefit of the triangle of the Lyon midfield (89th). But even without that, Lyon proved tonight that they may have the best midfielder in Ligue 1.
Moussa Dembele, the rebirth
Have OL found the Moussa Dembele for whom they offered 20 million to Celtic? After his sensational debut against OM, the Frenchman was again decisive this evening. From the fifth minute, it was he who seized the ball to take the penalty conceded by Kluivert. He misses his first attempt but has a second chance since Benitez was not on his line. The striker does not shake twice. He adjusts the Nice goalkeeper on the same side, with a more powerful and better placed strike. He proved to be decisive again, offering the second goal to Karl Toko-Ekambi (see below). In the meantime, the center-forward feasted in a register that we knew him less, all in technique. Evidenced by his wheel to get rid of the pressing. Often decried for his shortcomings on the ball, the striker responded. And above all, he has already shaken the net 8 times this season.
Toko-Ekambi, eater of spaces
Back from the CAN, Karl Toko-Ekambi showed his best face. That of a player who swallows the spaces on his side, who constantly transplants in the axis and always offers solutions with his ingenious calls. On his left side, he tirelessly exploited his speed against a struggling Daniliuc. He is rewarded with Lyon’s second goal. After a strike from Faivre, the ball arrives at Moussa Dembele, on the left of the surface. The scorer raises his head and serves his partner at the far post on a plate. Toko just has to push the ball into the empty nets. And to score 12th goal in all competitions. He leaves at the same time as his French sidekick, to the applause and chants of a conquered Groupama Stadium.
FLOPS
Delort got it all wrong
Making a list of everything Andy Delort missed tonight seems complicated as he was so transparent. The Algerian – who didn’t come out of the game – was never found by his teammates. And the few times he had interesting balls to negotiate, he wasted them. Witness this 3 against 3 where he tangles his brushes and loses the ball (12th). Or when, in the same situation, he poorly manages a pass to Gouiri and burns one of the rare Riviera cartridges (17th). Symbol of his match, he refuses a shot when he is alone in the area and has all the space to roll up (45th). Le Fennec prefers to try a risky pass for Gouiri in a forest of legs when he has already tried much more complicated than that. His second half is of the same ilk, except that he has even fewer balls.
Gallier was wrong
The Nice technician had decided to renew the same team as the one which outclassed Marseille at the start of the week. The only changes: the returns of Benitez and Lemina, instead of Bulka and Rosario. If the first played its role with decisive parades, the second never seemed to fit into his game. More generally, it is all the offensive but defensive animation (see below) which failed this evening. By wanting to play too much on the counter qualities of his team, “Galette” forgot that it was necessary to do more than just clear the recovery. However, the rare times when they projected themselves, in particular by Kluivert, the Nice people created some imbalances. But these offensives were far too sparse and the Aiglons never found a solution to the stifling opposing pressure.
Nice side overwhelmed
The 64 minutes that Flavius Daniliuc spent in the playing area were a long way of the cross. With Toko-Ekambi facing him, the young Austrian suffered and all his shortcomings were exploited by the Cameroonian. Unable to resist the winger’s speed, he systematically lost his one-on-ones. He is replaced after the hour mark and the right side of Nice has regained a little more stability with the entry of Lotomba. It will nevertheless be necessary to find a solution while Youcef Attal was injured again. The match was less difficult for Melvin Bard but the former Lyonnais suffered on his return. And in any case since he leaves several minutes after taking a nudge from Lucas Paqueta. He will finish the match with a homemade bandage on half of the face. This will not prevent him from suffering against a Romain Faivre who is less restless than his attacking teammates. The left side confirmed tonight the difficulties he has had for several weeks now.
