Exceptional Second Half Sees Lyon Climb Closer to UCL Spot

A second-half transformation from Olympique Lyonnais sees the club not only come from behind to steal an away victory at Stade Yves Allainmat, but has OL now within a point of a Champions League spot.

Within the first minute Lyon looked eager, with Michel Bastos’ left-wing cross volleyed nicely by César Delgado–forcing Fabien Audard to parry the ball to safety.

César Delgado fine performance led Lyon to a sound defeat of Lorient

But Lyon would fail to maintain the early momentum, seeing the home side move into attack.

Kevin Gameiro, as Lorient’s lone striker, caused problems for Lyon’s central defense—using his quickness to find space. At 5 minutes he would force Hugo Lloris to make a fine save—a motif of the evening—but the OL keeper would concede a rebound that Oliver Monterrubio sent just wide of the left post.

The Gameiro show would continue for the next several minutes, proving too quick for Lyon’s defense. Lyon would recover, however, only to see the match slip into a lull, with both clubs struggling to maintain possession in a congested midfield.

Arnaud Le Lan whipped in a cross from the left flank in the 28th minute that would change the complexion of the match. Jean-Alain Boumsong would first fail to clear it away only to than flail at a perfectly positioned Pierre Ducasse, who needed two touches—one to flip the ball in front of his body, a second off his chest to control it—in order to strike the ball past a diving Lloris.

Lorient would feed off the newly acquired lead, with Arnold Mvuemba and Ducasse bringing more pressure and exposing the disheveled nature of Cris’s and Boumsong’s central defending. The new spirit would also come, in part, at Miralem Pjanic’s expense. The Bosnian had a rough day, never fully settling in the midfield, being pulled off just before the 40 minute mark for Bafetimbi Gomis.

While Gomis would not make an immediate impact, the message sent by Claude Puel’s decision to bring him on seemed to make the difference. Lyon had a renewed energy, getting forward and searching out Lisandro López in the middle. Were it not for the strength of Laurent Koscielny, Sylvain Marchal, and a strong defensive performance from Franco Sosa, the half could have ended in at least a draw.

The second half would prove to be Lyon’s. An effort from Kim Källström would be their first opportunity to equalize nine minutes after the break, launching a free-kick against the crossbar. But Delgado deserves the lion’s share of credit. His exceptional control and pace down the left flank would dictate the rest of the match, forcing Christian Gourcuff to bring on James Fanchone for Ducasse in a futile attempt to stave off the Argentinian. Delgado would keep OL going forward—trying to catch Lorient out by repeatedly sending in crosses toward the right side.

On 60 minutes Lorient’s shape was all-but-lost, with Michel Bastos just missing a clean strike off a Delgado pass. 3 minutes later a similar build up would lead to Bastos putting the ball in front of goal, bouncing off Gomis to land fortuitously for Lisandro, who left-footed it with conviction. Gomis may have been offside, but Audard had no chance as Lorient’s typically sound defense was in tatters—conceding the first of three goals that would come in the last half hour.

With the score tied, Lorient was spurred on to create their own pressure. Winning a free kick 26 yards out, Sosa curled it nicely over the wall only to see another superb save from Lloris.

Källström put Lyon up for good 71 minutes in, however, pouncing on a misplaced Morgan Amalfitano header to finish deftly from just outside the 18 yard box.

Lorient did not disappear, showing some strength in the midfield. Their final chance to equalize would come at 86’, with a 30-yard Mvuemba free kick that would once again bring out the best of Lloris. With the ball heading toward the top left corner, Lloris cleanly punch it to safety—capping a terrific match for the keeper.

Källström would add another goal before full-time, sending in the semblance of a shot that caught Audard off guard, bouncing to the keeper’s right and into the net.

With Lille’s surprising loss away to Sochaux, Lyon now sit one point off LOSC for the Champions League qualification spot and three points behind Montpellier for second place in Ligue 1.