It was a party night at Groupama Stadium in Lyon. But it was almost spoiled by Nice, who long thought they would win. But Lyon limited the damage thanks to a penalty converted at the very end of the match by Alexandre Lacazette (1-1, 89th).
The pre-match had been marked by the Bad Gones tifos who were celebrating their 35th anniversary. The north bend kop made five consecutive boards before the players entered, each time hidden behind a huge red curtain.
At half-time, the emotion went up a notch in Groupama Stadium. A whole stadium celebrated the Golden Ball of Karim Benzema, the child of Bron in the Lyon suburbs who played at OL between the ages of 10 and 22. Very moved, he presented his trophy to the public before starting a lap of honor. “It’s something magical, extraordinary. I thank Real Madrid for allowing me to realize this dream. And after, Lyon my heart club. D. This is my club, my city. I worked my way up here. Since I was little, the supporters have always been behind me. It’s a way of thanking them. »
Penalty in two stages for Nice, generous for Lyon…
As for the match, it boiled down to a story of penalties. In the first period, Nicolas Pépé had opened the scoring with a penalty twice. Anthony Lopes, who had dived on the right side, had stopped the first attempt. But the referee who had estimated that the Lyon goalkeeper was not on his line, had him removed. Pépé transforms him and scores his 4th goal of the season (0-1, 38th).
After a post from Nicolás Tagliafico (60th), OL came back at the end of the match on another penalty after a great inspiration from Ryan Cherki in the area. A rather generous penalty for the shot… But Alexandre Lacazette does not tremble and deceives Kasper Schmeichel (1-1, 89th) for his 9th match of the season. The captain of Lyon takes his revenge on the Dane who had won their last duel in this exercise. Last season, Schmeichel had indeed stopped Lacazette’s penalty in the Premier League during a Leicester – Arsenal.
The Lyon public celebrated this equalizer as a victory. But the two teams remain stuck in the middle of the table, Lyon (8th), Nice (9th) while waiting for the other matches of this last day before the truce of the World Cup. Laurent Blanc’s record since his arrival in Lyon is 7 points in five games (2 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses). Still very insufficient.
“There was character to come back but that’s not enough, regrets Anthony Lopes at the microphone of Prime Video. What the Bad Gones did, it was fabulous, this curtain was reminiscent of a theater. We can’t settle for a draw at home. The matches pass and the gap widens with the teams ahead of us. We are Lyon, we have ambitions, we must play much better and do more. On the penalty, it’s c… This rule penalizes the goalkeepers who already have a small percentage to stop him, while the attackers can do everything. It’s difficult. »
