Lyon’s defensive woes once again exposed in Tel Aviv draw
Olympique Lyon’s
embarrassing 2-2 home draw with Hapoel Tel Aviv in their final
Champions League group game on Tuesday exposed the defensive frailties
the French side will have to eliminate to go further in the competition.
Substitute
Alexandre Lacazette salvaged a point for Lyon with a last-gasp goal but
the home players were booed off their Gerland pitch by an angry crowd.
Goalkeeper Lloris
was forced to make several spectacular saves as centre backs Cris and
Pape Diakhate delivered a dismal performance.
Both were caught
out in the 63rd minute when Shay Abutbul’s defence-splitting pass found
Ben Sahar, who scored a well-deserved equaliser a minute after Lisandro
Lopez opened the scoring for the home side.
Eran Zahavi put Hapoel ahead with a bicycle kick in the 69th minute.
“We enjoyed
possession, we took risks and eventually we conceded a goal on a
counterattack,” said full back Aly Cissokho. “We lacked coordination.”
Lyon, who had
already qualified after winning their opening three Group B games, have
conceded nine goals in their last three outings.
They finished
second in Group B on 10 points, three adrift of Schalke 04, and will
take on a team who finished top of their group in February.
“It is true that we
have been having defensive problems for a while,” Cissokho said. “Nine
goals in our last three European matches, it’s a lot for a team that
has qualified.” Lyon, who reached the semi-finals last season and will
be playing in the knockout phase for the eighth consecutive year, now
have two months to get their act together.
“We still make too many mistakes and we need to correct this,” midfielder Maxime Gonalons added.
Coach Claude Puel, however, refused to panic.
“We lacked aggressiveness but there were no consequences,” he told
French TV Canal Plus. “We worked hard, we have an ambitious squad. You
(the media) can bury us, we will show our worth in 2011.”
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