Like his team, the Portuguese has found a smile. Author of a monumental reflex save on the hour mark on a curled shot from Angel Gomes, the Lyon goalkeeper was a key player in Lyon’s success against Losc on Sunday October 30 at the end of the 13th day of Ligue 1 ( 1-0).
Acquired in pain, this victory is good for OL?
ANTHONY LOPES. After the one in Montpellier last week, that’s two in a row in pain! We take, it makes points at the key. I think that we must especially underline our burst of pride after the break, because we had practically not existed in the first period. We had to come back after the break with new intentions. This victory feels good, like finding such enthusiasm in the stadium with 55,000 people.
What happened at halftime?
The coach simply told us to keep faith. We were against a Lille team in the rush and who like to play. Our group showed great strength of character to get the three points. We needed it. The coach underlines it every day, we are in urgent need of points. In pain or not, the main thing was to win.
There is a turning point in this match: your 60th minute stoppage against Angel Gomes. Tell us…
We are in difficulty on our right side. After a very good control, the Lille resident made the right gesture by rolling up. I was on my feet, I was ready, we had worked on that a lot in training. That’s what I’m asked to do: be decisive. I managed to be this Sunday, it must continue. But you have to highlight the group because it’s my job, that’s all.
We insist, because it is an exceptional stop.
(Smiles) Oh, he’s fine. Spectacular or not, the important thing is that a stoppage is decisive. This one was, I’m very happy.
How do you view your team’s goal after a nice collective movement?
Jeff’s penultimate pass (Queen Adelaide) is exceptional, before the pass from Nico (tagliafico) and Alex’s finish (Lacazette). It is a very nice action. We were able to achieve it, it’s good for morale.
With another goal from Alexandre Lacazette, can’t we stop him?
I hope we won’t stop it! When your captain is decisive, it brings positive momentum. Let him continue like this, I take! He shows the way on a daily basis, during training and during matches, it pulls the group up.
To what extent does the arrival of Laurent Blanc help you in this recovery?
His speech brought freshness and helped put everyone on their mental feet. He found the right words for it. Everyone has regained a minimum of confidence. We would have liked to take nine out of nine points with him, we’re up to six out of nine, that’s pretty decent. But we know that we also have to look for results on the outside because we are very behind on our objectives. Sunday’s game in Marseille will be important for us.
OL came back to within four points of Marseille, it’s a match that will count double…
The Olympico is always a very watched game with a lot of intensity and aggression. We will stay focused on our way of doing for three weeks trying to go there to win in order to continue our march forward.
