Football Makes The World Go Round

Captain Pinto

Lyon’s awesome goalies in action last night (Impact Montreal vs Lyon)

“They were a good opponent with very good players and even though it was a friendly there was pretty good intensity. It was a nice game.” Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris on the Montreal-Lyon game

Lyon, I Love You, But Let’s Get Serious Nah!

Final: Impact Montreal 1 (Andrew Wenger 39’) vs Lyon 1 (Pied 28’)

Penalties:

OL:
Scored: Cissokho, Koné, Fofana, Gomis
Missed: Briand

Impact:
Scored: Ubiparipovic, Mallace
Missed: Neagle, Fetai

Attendance: 19,225

This game was only a friendly, yes, but it counted as well. Lyon had the sublime Lloris between the sticks in the Starting XI and what saves he pulled off in the first half. But I have to be honest, if OL do not fix their game plan/tactics, we’re in for another season of Lloris having to do some defending work for himself.

Alessandro Nesta made his debut for the Impact Montreal in this game. For the OL, they had the very first chance of the game in the 2’ but Briand’s shot happened to fly over Bush’s head. Bush is the Impact’s goalie and he is a damn great goalie too. For the first half, Lloris and Gourcuff were my men of the match. Lloris had the commentators yelping like little bitches with every save he made.

Jeremy Pied opened the scoreline for the OL with a nice Gourcuff assist but a few minutes later, Impact equalized through Andrew Wenger (no, no relation to the great Arsene Wenger).

So we won on penalties.

Lyon will next face Montpellier in the Trophee des Champs tournament this Saturday. By the way, Montpellier also played a friendly game last night. They won 3-0 against Kansas City Wizards.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Maxime Gonalons #21 of Olympique Lyonnais and Patrice Bernier #8 of the Montreal Impact jump to head the ball during the MLS match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

Lyon in action

Quick Summaries:

The first half was fairly decent. The boys had their goal and wanted to achieve it, but somewhere along the way, they seem to have lost it.
Yoann Gourcuff and Hugo Lloris were the best in the first half for me. Lloris’ saves and Gourcuff’s passes, I have no complaints. Lloris is really good on one-on-one situations. Some might say ‘We have so and so’ but Lyon can boast, ‘We have Lloris.’
Lack of pace. Gomis and co. need to run faster. Sometimes they lacked that speed where it was needed most.
Defense problem. Garde needs to fix this and quickly. No disrespect to Garde who is doing but not enough really, but what Lyon needs is a coach like Laurent Blanc or Pep Guardiola to bring out their potential because there’s tons there. The team has great players, but they can be use even better.
Impact Montreal’s goalie, Bush, I love you. Keep up the awesome work!
And oh, Rémy Vercoutre, I have no complaints about you. If Lloris leaves, Lyon will be in safe hands. Great penalty stopper and some saves were Lloris-like.
Room for improvement

Some Highlights:

Lyon’s Starting XI

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Members of the Montreal Impact pose for a team photo prior to their match against the Olympique Lyonnais at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

Montreal Starting XI

Olympique Lyonnais goalkeeper Hugo Lloris watches the ball go in the goal during a friendly soccer match against Montreal Impact in Montreal, July 24, 2012.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Remy Vercoutre #30 of Olympique Lyonnais pumps his fist after stopping a shootout attempt during the match against the Montreal Impact at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Members of the Montreal Impact and Olympique Lyonnais take to the field prior to their match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Yoann Gourcuff #8 of Olympique Lyonnais stops the ball and turns in front of Patrice Bernier #8 of the Montreal Impact during the MLS match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Bafetibis Gomis #18 of Olympique Lyonnais kicks the ball to score his shootout attempt during the match against the Montreal Impact at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Yoann Gourcuff #8 of Olympique Lyonnais collides with Nelson Rivas #2 of the Montreal Impact during the match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Members of the Montreal Impact and Olympique Lyonnais shake hands prior to their match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Aly Cissokho #20 of Olympique Lyonnais passes the ball in front of Evan James #36 of the Montreal Impact during the match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Sanna Nyassi #11 of the Montreal Impact heads the ball in front of Aly Cissokho #20 of Olympique Lyonnais during the match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Justin Mapp #21 of the Montreal Impact trips Mouhamadou Dabo #14 of Olympique Lyonnais during the match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Calum Mallace #29 of the Montreal Impact battles for the ball with Aly Cissokho #20 of Olympique Lyonnais during the match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Olympique defeated the Impact 4-2 in a shootout.

MONTREAL, CANADA - JULY 24: Jimmy Briand #19 of Olympique Lyonnais kicks the ball in front of Felipe Martins #7 of the Montreal Impact during the match at the Saputo Stadium on July 24, 2012 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Olympique Lyonnais' Bafetimbi Gomis (R) jump for the ball in front of Montreal Impact's Alessandro Nesta (R) during their friendly soccer match in Montreal, July 24, 2012.

Montreal Impact's Andrew Wenger (R) celebrates with Justin Mapp (L) and Felipe Martins (2nd R) after scoring against Olympique Lyonnais during their friendly soccer match in Montreal, July 24, 2012.

Montreal Impact's Felipe Martins (7) fights for the ball against Olympique Lyonnais' Jeremy Pied during their friendly soccer match in Montreal, July 24, 2012.

Olympique Lyonnais' Jimmy Briand reacts during their friendly soccer match against Montreal Impact in Montreal, July 24, 2012.

Olympique Lyonnais' Jeremy Pied (24) celebrates with teammates Maxime Gonalons (21) and Yoann Gourcuff (8) after scoring against Montreal Impact during their friendly soccer match in Montreal, July 24, 2012.

Olympique Lyonnais' Kim Kallstrom, right, fights for the ball with Montreal Impact's Sinisa Ubiparipovic during the second half of an international friendly match at Saputo Stadium in Montreal on Tuesday, July 24, 2012.

Olympique Lyonnais' Bafetimbi Gomis scissor-kicks the ball during the second half of an international friendly against the Montreal Impact at Saputo Stadium in Montreal on Tuesday, July 24, 2012.

Montreal Impact's Eduardo Sebrango stops the ball with a back kick during the second half of an international friendly match against Olympique Lyonnais at Saputo Stadium in Montreal on Tuesday, July 24, 2012.

SOURCE: http://myheartbeatsfootball.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/lyon-i-love-you-but-lets-get-serious-nah-36-2/

a-less-ordinary-life:

Half time interview

Deulofeu; “Before going out onto the pitch, the manager told me to go out and play like I always do.”