Lyon came away with a 3-1 win over Bordeaux in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Brave second-half rally not enough as Blanc's men suffer
A controversial second-half penalty helped the pendulum swing in Lyon's favour as they recorded a 3-1 victory over Bordeaux in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg tie at Municipal De Gerland.
The all-French affair got off to an exhilarating start when after just 10 minutes Lyon took the lead through Lisandro Lopez, who turned in a cross from inside the six-yard box following a misjudgement by Bordeaux defender Michael Ciani.
Ciani had his blushes spared four minutes later, though, as the impressive Marouane Chamakh headed home virtually unmarked to give his side an away goal following some neat build-up play from Yoann Gourcuff.
But Laurent Blanc's team self-destructed once again and their usually astute defence wobbled, this time Benoit Tremoulinas the culprit as his failure to head clear a Miralem Pjanic cross allowed Michel Bastos the chance to blast into the top corner.
Bordeaux went desperately close to levelling - Hugo Lloris denying Chamakh with an excellent reaction save and Wendel rattling the cross bar - although it was Lyon who pressed home their advantage when Lopez struck again from the spot, stroking home as referee Felix Brych harshly adjudged Matthieu Chalme to have handled Aly Cissokho's shot.
Antagonism
There had been plenty of antagonism between the sides prior to the tie following a row over the rescheduling of Lyon's Ligue 1 clash with Grenoble, with Bordeaux, who lost to Marseille in Saturday's Coupe de la Ligue final, adamant that their opponents not be giving an extra day to prepare for tonight's game by playing on Friday night.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas had even described the tie as "a war", and it was his side who handled the pressure of battle with the greater poise.
But it was the visitors who made the more settled start to proceedings, with Gourcuff and Jaroslav Plasil looking comfortable in midfield.
But they were dealt a blow as the home side took the lead against the run of play in the 10th minute.
Striker Lisandro's free-kick hit the wall, but Claude Puel's side showed patience to keep control of the ball and when Mathieu Bodmer found space down the right his ball into the box was turned in from close range by Lisandro.
The lead lasted only four minutes as Chamakh grabbed an equaliser and what may turn out to be a vital away goal.
Lyon were caught short on the break after giving away possession and Chamakh headed home from Gourcuff's pinpoint cross.
The two goals saw the tempo of the game increase and there could have been a goal at either end in the 24th minute.
Bastos' long ball caught Les Girondins' defence out and keeper Cedric Carrasso was forced into a fine save to deny Cesar Delgado.
Bordeaux broke quickly and it took an acrobatic stop from Hugo Lloris to keep out Yoann Gouffran's audacious flick.
Lyon continued to look the more threatening side and their attacking ambition was rewarded when Bastos fired them back ahead.
Miralem Pjanic's cross was not cleared by Bordeaux and Bastos cut back onto his left foot to rifle into the far corner of the net for his fifth goal in five games.
No mistake
Chamakh looked to get his side back in the game but Lloris gathered his powerful drive at the second attempt while Delgado saw his effort deflected onto the bar by Carrasso, although it would not have counted as Lisandro was ruled as being offside in the build up.
The game remained stretched after the break although Bordeaux briefly regained some of the composure that had been lacking during the frenetic opening stanza.
And they were left wondering how they were not back level after 61 minutes.
An excellent ball into the box picked out Chamakh and as the striker made clean contact he seemed certain to equalise, only for Lloris to palm the ball away with his left hand as he moved to his right.
Jean Makoun should have increased Lyon's lead but his weak effort was smothered by Carrasso, before Ferreira Jussie saw his volley cannon back off the bar at the other end.
But the tie swung in Lyon's favour when they were awarded a 77th minute penalty after Mathieu Chalme was harshly adjudged to have handled in the area. Lisandro made no mistake from the spot, but picked up a booking minutes later that will rule him out of next week's second leg.
Substitute Sidney Govou then missed a chance to effectively seal the tie as he volleyed wide with the Bordeaux defence in disarray once more.
| Lyon |
Team Statistics |
Bordeaux |
| 3 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 6 |
Corners |
4 |
| 19 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 6 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 64.2 |
Passing Success |
73.6 |
| 11 |
Tackles |
18 |
| 81.8 |
Tackles Success |
61.1 |
| 37.2 |
Possession |
62.8 |
| 51.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.3 |
|
