Lyon were hoping to make it 6 wins in a row and continue their stellar run of form under Pierre Sage as they faced Patrick Vieira’s Strasbourg in the Coupe de France Quarter Final.
After a frontfooted start from Lyon, Benrahma had Les Gones‘ first shot of the game but it was speculative and was no trouble for the Bellaarouch in the Strasbourg goal. Seconds after, Benrahma turned creator as he teed up Caqueret for an effort on the edge of the area, but the midfielder sliced his effort wide of the target.
Besides these opportunities in the opening minutes, Lyon were rather frustrated despite retaining possession well and Strasbourg offering little on the counter. Vieria’s men were set up into a low block in front of the box, meaning OL were often forced to play in front of the Strasbourg defence or push play wide to try and evade Strasbourg’s blue wall in front of their box. This resulted in the scores being level at the break.
Benrahma continued to look lively in the second half and almost opened the scoring with a bending effort, after cutting in from the left flank, but his shot was just narrowly wide. Benrahma came the closest to scoring in the 56th minute as he hit the post directly from a corner. The fact this was the closest OL had come to scoring at that point showed their true frustration in front of goal and the effectiveness of Strasbourg’s containing defensive set-up.
Lyon had a great opportunity with 7 minutes to go as Benrahma managed to beat his marker and shape a shot from a close distance but his effort was quickly closed down. Carnage broke out after a Strasbourg free kick that was deflected wide, with Ćaleta-Car and Sissoko squabbling but the kafuffle was quickly broken up.
The two sides could not be separated after 90 minutes so the tie went to penalties. It would be Lyon who would progress on penalties with Lucas Perrin missing the decisive penalty for Strasbourg. OL’s win-streak is halted but spirits remain high as their hunt for illusive silverware continues.
Lyon player ratings:
Lucas Perri – 7, The Brazilian made a decisive save in the shootout to give Lyon an early advantage and did not put a foot wrong in regulation time.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 5
Duje Ćaleta-Car – 5
Jake O’Brien – 5
Nicolás Tagliafico – 6
Nemanja Matić – 5
Maxence Caqueret – 7, Complete in an attacking and defensive sense is the only way to describe Caqueret. The midfielder was influential with and without the ball and heavily involved in the majority of OL’s positive phases of attacking play.
Orel Mangala – 5
Ernest Nuamah – 6
Alexandre Lacazette – 5
Saïd Benrahma – 7, Menacingly, Benrahma caused problems constantly for the Strasbourg defence all night from the left flank. Whether coming inside or taking the ball to the byline, the West Ham loanee was imperious with the ball at his feet and created several openings both for himself and teammates.
GFFN | Liam Wraith
