Dembélé scorer, not Vitinha, Dubois who highlights … The tops and flops after the Lyon qualification against FC Porto (1-1) this Thursday, in C3.
TOPS
Moussa Dembélé sends OL to the quarter
The Olympique Lyonnais striker will have weighed heavily on the Portuguese defense. He manages to score on his first chance, his first goal in the Europa League this season. On a superb opening from Léo Dubois, behind the Portuguese defense, he resists Mbemba’s return and manages to deceive Costa by crossing his shot. Subsequently, Dembélé continued to weigh on the opposing defense with a header that went slightly above (21st) and a duel lost against Costa (63rd). Lyon’s sole scorer on Thursday, Moussa Dembélé qualifies OL for the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
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Léo Dubois puts out a solid performance
The Lyon right side made a good copy. Not retained in the list of Didier Deschamps earlier in the day, Léo Dubois had a very solid match. He is first decisive passer on the goal of Dembélé with a very nice lobed pass well felt in the back of the Portuguese defense (12th). In the first half, the captain of Les Gones repeated the efforts by bringing his presence to each Lyon offensive. Defensively, he was also very solid, notably with an excellent return to get ahead of Martinez, in an excellent position but who could not arm his strike. Often heckled by Lyon fans in recent months, Dubois had a big game in front of his supporters. Reconciliation in sight?
Read alsoEuropa League: Lyon passes the Porto obstacle and climbs to the quarter-finals
Thiago Mendes as defense boss
The Brazilian was very tough. Missed his match against Rennes on Sunday (2-4 defeat), behaved like a boss and caught up with a ball from Lukeba when he came back to stop Martinez with authority. Thereafter, he was always well placed and made several very valuable interceptions. He was not faulted and dominated the Portuguese attackers to reassure his defense.
FLOPS
Vitinha misses the match point
After their 1-0 defeat in Portugal, FC Porto had to win by at least one goal on Thursday to hope to play extra time and consider qualifying for the quarter-finals. First led to the score, the Portuguese manage to equalize thanks to Pepé (26th). In the second half, the “Dragons” made the game but did not really know how to be dangerous against a Lyon block well in place. However, Porto will have a final goal ball in the last seconds of the match. On a free kick, Pepé heads the ball to 6 meters. The Lyon defense is taken behind his back and Vitinha appears at the penalty spot. Unfortunately for Porto, the striker misses the inevitable, the ball sticks to his feet and Lopes throws himself to stop it. An incredible missed opportunity that could have sent Porto into extra time.
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Portuguese defense too feverish
If the attacks did not really take over the defenses this Thursday evening, the defensive line of FC Porto nevertheless creaked. The defense is very misaligned on Moussa Dembélé’s goal. Then, the said Dembélé and Lucas Paqueta undermined this somewhat slow defense on a few actions, including well-made counterattacks. Karl Toko Ekambi and Romain Faivre also took over the opposing side on several occasions.