Lyon beat Saint-Étienne this Friday, 1-0, in the French Championship. With the result, the team remains in the middle of the table, but sinks the rival in the lantern of the competition, with only 12 points.
Lyon started the classic better, creating good opportunities through the deep shots of Brazilian Bruno Guimarães. In a line of three defenders, former São Paulo Thiago Mendes acted as a central defender and sought to assist the team in the exit of the ball.
Lucas Paquetá, the club’s main highlight, was free to play in the central area of the field and associate with the other midfielders. In addition, the player almost always stepped into the opponent’s area to finish the moves. In the 15th minute, Frenchman Moussa Dembélé received a throw and was fouled in the area. The striker himself took the penalty and opened the scoring in Lyon’s favor.
Despite the advantage, the team led by Peter Bosz was on top of the rival, giving up few spaces and building chances to expand the marker. Saint-Étienne, in turn, had a lot of difficulty getting the ball out and in rare moments managed to advance into the opponent’s field. The best and only opportunity came in the 40th minute, when midfield Camara headed in after a cross in the area, but the shot was saved by goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
At the end of the first half, winger Dubois was substituted after two headers. The athlete left the field bleeding and gave way to the right side Malo Gusto.
In the second stage, Lyon opted to reinforce its defensive system, retreating Bruno Guimarães, who started to participate less in the offensive construction of the team. The team bet on direct calls and had difficulties in exchanging passes in the midfield, as the players were very spaced.
Even so, they were the hosts who were closest to reaching the second goal, however, Kadewere and Paquetá finished badly on two counterattack opportunities, keeping Saint-Étienne alive.
Lyon missed Brazilian Emerson Palmieri, a former Santos and Chelsea player. Absent by covid-19, the left side is the best offensive option in that sector of the field and synonymous with aggressiveness on the left flank, which was lacking in the second half. Despite the absence, Lyon managed to hold on to the result and secured their eighth victory in the tournament.
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