Match report: Lyon 2-2 Manchester City
Jamie Jackson was at the Groupama Stadium for the Guardian and filed this on-the-whistle report on a night Manchester City won the hard fought point that secures their passage through to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
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City head to the last 16: Pep’s troops had to fight extremely hard for that point against a Lyon side that will be beating itself up over conceding consecutive leads to set-piece goals. Those three missed sitters, two from Cornet and one from Depay, will also haunt them if they fail to make it through. They’re away to Shakhtar in their final group game, where a draw will be enough for them.
Full-time: Lyon 2-2 Man City
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over in France, where Manchester City twice had to come from behind to earn the point they needed from this game to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. A late goal from Shakhtar against Hoffenheim means Lyon still have work to do going into match-day six.
90+2 min: Both teams play down the clock after a fine evening’s football entertainment.
90 min: Manchester City substitution. He didn’t get the start many anticipated tonight but Phil Foden gets the consolation of a happy ending ... so to speak. He comes on for added time, replacing Sergio Aguero.
89 min: Lyon substitution: Maxwell Cornet off after scoring two goals, Martin Terrier on to snap at a few ankles.
86 min: Another City corner, but this one is taken by Sterling and cleared at the near post. Lyon substitution from a few moments ago: Fekir off after a quiet night, Bertrand Traore on in his stead. It remains Hoffenheim 2-2 Shakhtar in Germany, which means both Lyon and City will progress to the knockout stages with a game to spare if things stay as they are.
85 min: That was a quite astonishing leap by Aguero to win that header against two defenders who each had several inches on him. The header was exceptional too – he knew exactly where he wanted to direct that ball.
GOAL! Lyon 2-2 Man City (Aguero 83)
City equalise again!!! They win a corner, which Mahrez sends into the penalty area. Aguero rises highest despite being marked by two Lyon defenders and directs a fine header in at the far post.
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GOAL! Lyon 2-1 Man City (Cornet 80)
Lyon go ahead again! Cornet runs between defenders on to a through ball from Depay, takes the ball away from Laporte with a nice touch and slots the ball past Ederson. That’s Cornet’s fourth goal of the season and three of them have come against Manchester City.
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78 min: The game seems to have fizzled out a bit since City scored their equaliser, with City seeming content with this result. Lyon are definitely looking hungrier for the win at the moment.
75 min: Into the final 15 minutes we go, with the match finely poised with a scoreline that .
73 min: Lyon substitution: former Manchester United defender Rafael off. He’s replaced by Kenny Tete.
72 min: Man City substitution: Leroy Sane off after a decent 70 minutes. Fabian Delph replaces him.
71 min: At the other end, a feeble shot from Nabil Fekir fails to trouble Ederson.
70 min: Aguero wriggles past a couple of defenders in the Lyon penalty area before shooting straight at Lopes at the near post.
68 min: “Whats wrong with tactical fouling?” asks Paul Fitzgerald. “Players foul all over the pitch for various different reasons. There are a lot darker arts being undertaken throughout a pitch than stopping a counter-attack.”
There is absolutely nothing wrong with tactical fouling. Seeing a manager looked shocked and hurt at the very notion he might instruct his players to embrace it when footage of him doing so in a documentary commissioned by his own club is freely available is what I find amusing.
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Elsewhere in Group F: It’s still Hoffenheim 2-2 Shakhtar Donetsk in Germany. City stay top of the group and Lyon will advance with them if things stay as they are in both games.
Back to City’s goal. City won a free-kick wide on the right, which Sterling lofted into the Lyon penalty area. David Silva got a flick and the ball made it’s way across the box, where Laporte planted a header past the apparently wrong-footed goalkeeper.
64 min: City almost take the lead. Leroy Sane shoots towards the near post, slipping in the process. His effort is saved by Lopes, who promptly drops the ball. The goalkeeper manages to snatch it to his chest just before it bobbles over the line.
Goal! Lyon 1-1 Man City (Laporte 62)
I may have spoken too soon. Aymeric Laporte heads City level from a set-piece.
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60 min: Man City search for an equaliser, but Lyon are looking organised in defence with five men strung across the pitch in a line as City probe for an opening.
59 min: What a save!!! Anthony Lopes saves brilliantly from Sergio Aguero who looked certain to score with a bullet header towards the corner from no more than a handful of yards out.
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56 min: I think it may have taken a wee deflection, but that was a fine goal from Maxwell Cornet. The move that led to it began with a quickly taken free kick from Marcelo to Memphis Depay out wide on the left, deep in City territory. He squared the ball to Cornet on the right side of the penalty area, a metre or so outside. With a shuffle and a shimmy, he makes room for shot and sends a curling left-footed effort past Ederson via a little deflection off Zinchenko.
GOAL! Lyon 1-0 Man City (Cornet 55)
Lyon take the lead! Maxwell Cornet finally scores, curling the ball past Ederson and inside the far post with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
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52 min: Sane takes the corner, playing it to Zinchenko on the corner of the penalty area. His cross is cleared by Lyon, who are very much on the back foot in the early stages of this second half.
50 min: City advance to the final third with Zinchenko on the ball. He picks out Sterling, who is crowded off the ball. City win a corner when Jason Denayer heads the ball out of play with City on top and threatening.
49 min: Raheem Sterling tries his luck with a diagonal shot from distance. Marcelo closes him down and puts him off. A weak effort trundles wide of the far post.
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48 min: Another interesting stat from BT Sport - despite missing three sitters and hitting the woodwork in the first half, Lyon have yet to register an actual shot on target.
Second half: Lyon 0-0 Manchester City
46 min: City begin the second half with a back three of Laporte, Walker and Stones, with Zinchenko further up the pitch in a wing-back position. He seemed to flit in and out of the back three/four in the first half. Lyon have also been playing with a back three, unlike in the corresponding fixture at the Etihad. First half possession: Lyon 46%-54% Man City. No changes in personnel at half-time.
Some half-time analysis: “Come on now Barry, Fernandinho makes that foul every single week,” says Andrew Champney of the block that earned the Brazilian a yellow card. “He knows exactly what he’s doing. Glad to see him finally booked.”
Hush now, Andrew. Manchester City don’t do tactical fouling and never have. We know that because Pep recently clutched his pearls at the very suggestion ... er, despite footage of him instructing his players to foul tactically in that puff-piece masquerading as a fly-on-the-wall documentary that dropped on Amazon Prime earlier this year.
Half-time: Lyon 0-0 Manchester City
An entertaining first half comes to an end with City extremely lucky not to be behind. Memphis Depay has had one bad miss, while Maxwell Cornet has contrived to miss two absolute sitters, followed by one more difficult effort that was kept out by the woodwork. Riyad Mahrez should have scored at least one of two decent chances for City, who certainly having it all their own way in France.
44 min: Lyon attack down the left with Memphis on the ball again, but he loses possession. City attack on the break and Mahrez shoots wide.
43 min: Maxwell Cornet smashes the ball off the ground and then the woodwork with an acrobatic volley after getting on the end of a good Memphis Depay cross from the left. That’s his third miss of the evening, but that one was quite difficult. Laporte clears up for City.
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Elsewhere in Group F: It’s Hoffenheim 2-2 Shakhtar Donetsk. As things stand, both Lyon and Man City would advance to the last 16.
39 min: Fernandinho fouls Tanguy Ndombele, treading on his instep and prompting the Lyon midfielder to go down theatrically. Already on a booking, he escapes the second yellow card that would result in his dismissal. He needs to be careful.
37 min: It should be noted that City haven’t been at their scintillating best tonight, because they haven’t been let. Lyon look a very impressive outfit and aren’t afraid to take the game to City. The first half possession and passing stats will make for interesting reading.
36 min: Marcelo sticks out a leg to prevent Sergio Aguero scoring after the City striker had linked up with David Silva in a rather elaborate one-two in the Lyon penalty area. Moments before that, Raheem Sterling got booked for obstruction. Like Fernandinho’s, it looked harsh.
32 min: City are far from their scintillating best tonight and could well be a goal or two down. They’ve had chances of their own, but none as glorious as the three sitters missed between them by Maxwell Cornet and Memphis Depay. West Ham missed several good chances against them at the weekend too; their goal is leading a bit of a charmed life.
29 min: Chance for Lyon! Mendy scorches down the left wing, leaving Kyle Walker in his dust. He squares the ball for Maxwel Cornet, five or six yards out. With the goal at his mercy, he takes a heavy first touch, then slips while trying to poke the ball home. Laporte dives in and Cornet’s effort loops over the ball, possibly taking a deflection on its way. That’s another real let-off for City.
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27 min: Sane picks out David Silva in the Lyon penalty area, but the midfielder is dispossessed by a combination of Ferland Mendy and Tanguy Ndombele.
26 min: Marcelo tries to pick out Depay with a long ball to the corner, but John Stones reaches it first and calmly averts what passed for the danger.
23 min: Oops. Mr Fernandinho gets booked for a foul, his second in quick succession, on Memphis Depay that looked something and nothing. He couldn’t get out of the player’s way and Depay ran into him before collapsing dramatically to the turf holding his neck and head.
Free-kick for Lyon, about 30 yards out, straight in front of the Lyon goal. Depay tries his luck, but his fairly decent effort whistles a little too high and wide.
21 min: Another sustained period of City possession comes to an end when Leroy Sane loses the ball out on the left flank. Fernandinho’s been immense for the visitors thus far, controlling the tempo in midfield and pinging passes around for fun.
Elsewhere in Group F: It’s already Hoffenheim 1-2 Shakhtar Donetsk in Germany. As things stand, Manchester City’s route into the knockout stages is assured.
17 min: Back to Memphis Depay’s golden opportunity to put Lyon ahead. Maxwell Cornet sent in a cross that sat up perfectly for the cigar-smoking freestyle rapper at the far post. In front of Kyle Walker a couple of yards out and with no shortage of goal to aim at e seemed to take his eye off the ball, vaguely brushed it with his studs and made a complete pig’s ear of his volley. Oh Memphis.
15 min: Having been teed up by Sterling just moments ago, Mahrez is now set up by Leroy Sane at the end of another counter-attack. He doesn’t get much power behind his shot from 12 yards or so and it’s deflected out for a corner by Marcelo. Nothing comes from the set-piece, which is cleared by Rafael on sentry duty at the near post.
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14 min: Chances at both ends as Memphis Depay misses an easy volley seconds before City break up the pitch and Riyad Mahrez shoots low and too close to Lopez with the goal at his mercy. Depay’s miss was definitely the worst of the two, but they were two gilt-edged chances.
12 min: Mahrez tries to play Aguero in behind with a neat pass after picking the ball up from Ferndinho. He overcooks his delivery, which runs straight through to Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopez.
11 min: Free-kick for City, wide on the right in line with the edge of the Lyon penalty area after a foul on Kyle Walker by Marcal. Silva takes the free-kick, but Fekir blocks and clears.
10 min: City enjoy a period of sustained possession but are unable to get too far out of their own half. Mahrez picks up the ball on the right touchline and plays a short pass to Sergio Aguero, who is dispossessed by City old boy Jason Denayer. He plays it forward to Nabil Fekir, who loses it again.
8 min: City’s players are being pressed relentlessly by their opponents whenever they get on the ball, but are coping quite admirably despite being forced to work the ball backwards repeatedly.
6 min: Free-kick for Lyon wide on the right, a good way out after a Fernandinho foul. Nabil Fekir fancies his chances from distance - it’s at least 35 yards - but his left-footed effort is blocked by Riyad Mahrez in the two-man City wall.
4 min: The corner comes in from Memphis Depay and Maxwell Cornet tries to get his head to the ball, but doesn’t make contact. If he’d got any sort of contact on the ball there, Lyon would be a goal up. They’ve started well.
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3 min: A scrappy enough start with both sides taking turns to get on the ball and try to feel their way into the game. Atmeric Laporte concedes the first corner of the game, cutting out a cross from the left that was intended for Memphis Depay.
Lyon v Man City is go ...
1 min: Lyon kick off playing in white shirts with red and blue panels across the shoulders, white shorts and white socks. MAnchester City’s players are dressed in ... ummm, sort of purple-ish shirts with orange sashes, orange shorts and orange socks with purple turn-downs. Crikey.
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Not long now ... The teams are in the tunnel and march out led by referee Gianluca Rocchi, who is wearing a shirt so thin and transparent you can clearly see his red card through the material of his pocket in his pocket. Cue: the Champions League anthem and kick-off is just moments away in a packed stadium.
A brief musical interlude: Of course, more recently, Memphis made headlines for ... whatever this is.
Memphis Depay has been scoring up a storm a storm for Lyon this season, but in a recent article posted on the Guardian Sport Network, Adam White and Eric Devin questioned the Dutch footballer’s attitude. By their account, Depay is unpopular in the dressing-room, hugely arrogant and has made no secret of his desire to move to a club more befitting a man of his incredible talents. Sadly, the former Manchester United players reputation seems to go before him and offers from bigger clubs appear to be few and far between. He has, however, been linked with a return to Old Trafford.
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Lyon v Manchester City line-ups
There’s good news for Lyon as Nabil Fekir is passed fit to start. According to Uefa’s graphic, which may not be entirely accurate, the hosts are going to play with three at the back and two wing-backs, which would be something of a radical departure from the 4-4-1-1 they employed so successfully against Man City at the Etihad. Moussa Dembele is out and doesn’t even make the Lyon bench.
Phil Foden doesn’t start for City, with Fernandinho, Riyad Mahrez and David Silva occupying the midfield berths. John Stones returns for Nicolas Otamendi, Oleksandr Zinchenko replaces Fabian Delph and Riyad Mahrez is in for Ilkay Gundogan.
Lyon: Lopes, Denayer, Marcelo, Marcal, Da Silva, Ndombele, Aouar, Mendy, Cornet, Depay, Fekir.
Subs: Gorgelin, Terrier, Traore, Morel, Tete, Cheikh, Tousart.
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko, Mahrez, Fernandinho, Silva, Sane, Aguero, Sterling.
Subs: Muric, Danilo, Kompany, Delph, Otamendi, Foden, Diaz.
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)
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Bruno Génésio speaks ...
“Manchester City are one of the favourites to win the Champions League,” said the Lyon manager. “They’re one of the best sides in Europe, but we have our ambitions, too. That’s the only way to trouble them again – we need to believe in ourselves.”
Speaking about their visitors’ dominance in games, he added: “City have between 70% and 75% of possession; they’re rarely in trouble. They’re a team with a very compact block and press well.”
And on the possible absence of his star player and skipper. “Nabil Fekir is indispensable in this type of game – he’s our captain,” said Genesio. “He’ll tell us how he feels after this evening’s training. They’re a better side on paper. We’ll have to be at 150% to have any chance of success.”
Pep Guardiola speaks
Appearing before the press yesterday, the Manchester city manager addressed about his mini-injury crisis. “I prefer to have all the squad to choose from but it is what it is,” he said. “We have to adapt with the guys that are here and we will try to do a good job. The others who aren’t here will do their best to recover.”
Unusually, he also addressed Manchester City’s critics, specifically those who think the club is only successful because of it’s vast wealth. “For the people who don’t love us too much, who use money as an argument, then we have failed if we don’t win the Champions League,” he said. “But the fans love watching the team. Of course, we want to qualify and arrive in the best condition possible. If we are lucky to go forward in the competition then that speaks for itself.
“Tomorrow is a big chance to be in Europe in February. We lost one game and bounced back; we reacted so well but the job is not over. We have to win one more and hopefully, we can close the group stage.”
Early team news
Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan are both suffering from muscle injuries and join their fellow midfielder Kevin De Bruyne on the sidelines. Gabriel Jesus is suffering from a foot problem and also unavailable for selection, which means Pep Guardiola could give Phil Foden his second Champions League start. The 18-year-old played 89 minutes of the second leg of last season’s round of 16 second leg defeat at the hands of Basel, with City ultimately going through 5-2 on aggregate.
Lyon, meanwhile, have been sweating on the fitness of their star player Nabil Fekir. The 25-year-old midfielder had been struggling, but has trained for the past two days and looks certain to play some part tonight. Also among Lyon’s lame and halt, right-back Léo Dubois and striker Amine Gouiri will not.
Group F: Lyon v Manchester City
Manchester City travel to Lyon tonight knowing a draw will guarantee their progress to the knockout stages, while victory will secure them top spot in Group G with one game to spare. Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten since their surprise defeat to the French side in September, having won 12 of their 13 matches since.
Second in the French top flight but already 15 points behind Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon also sit second here in Group G. Should they lose and Hoffenheim beat Shaktar Donetsk, that’ll change – the French side will be overtaken ahead of the final round of games. However, Lyon could also secure their passage to the knockout stages with a draw, if the match in Germany also finishes all square. Kick-off is at 8pm (GMT), but stay tuned for team news and build-up.
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