Antonio, Fornals or Rice in prison at West Ham, Dembélé fails, Ndombélé too: the Tops and Flops after Lyon’s elimination in C3 this Thursday (0-3).
TOPS
Poison Antonio had fun
Michail Antonio was in all the good moves of his team this Thursday evening. In his usual style, the one who is used to rubbing shoulders with English defenses walked on the Lyon defenders. Jason Denayer and Castello Lukeba struggled with the Hammers striker’s physicality and speed. Heading game, fulcrum, rezoning on the wings, acceleration: Antonio just missed a goal to complete his evening.
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Pablo Fornals at the wand
The West Ham midfielder was inspired and above all valuable tonight. The Spanish international played very fair and offered two assists to his partners. He ideally hits a corner at the near post for the opener for Craig Dawson (38th). He launches Jarrod Bowen perfectly in depth to come and bury the Lyonnais definitively (44th).
Declan Rice can do it all
The West Ham captain totally dominated the midfield. Declan Rice constantly harassed the ball carrier and threw himself as soon as he had the chance. He had an impressive volume of play and stunned the Lyonnais by breaking with a shot placed just before the break (44th). At the end of the match he even allows himself to overflow and overtake Malo Gusto to obtain a corner. A very complete match from the English international.
The Hammers’ insurmountable defense
The Lyon strikers were only deluded this Thursday evening. Faced with well-established Hammers and solid defenders, Les Gones never really managed to come and worry Alphonse Areola, who had a quiet evening. Dawson and Issa Diop constantly got the better of their opponents who failed to score a single goal in front of their very upset supporters after the game and who whistled their players.
FLOPS
Moussa Dembele too discreet
The Lyon striker did not have many good balls to negotiate. But when it did, he was unsuccessful and failed all his attempts. Behind many crosses, Moussa Dembele was beaten in almost every duel by Issa Diop. The Lyon striker is also too far to mark on Dawson who opens the scoring from a corner.
Tete misses his entrance
Entering the game at halftime in place of Romain Faivre, the Brazilian did not weigh during the last 45 minutes. While the ex-Brestois played a pretty decent match without managing to make any real differences, Tetê really didn’t bring anything. Dominated by the much larger West Ham defenders, he made no difference and failed to energize his team’s play.
Ndombele in difficulty
Unlike the first leg, Tanguy Ndombele was in much more difficulty on Thursday. After a good start to the game, he gradually lost track and lost several balls. He did not really weigh on the game of his team, just like his partner in the middle Thiago Mendes. The French international was substituted at the break.
