Lyon Vs Fiorentina Liveblog

By: Rob | September 17th, 2008

Howdy, I’m here to bring you everything as it happens from the first match in the group of death, as Lyon play against Fiorentina, the full liveblog is after the jump.

Lyon 2 – 2 Fiorentina

Gilardino 11, 41 (Fiorentina)
Piquionne 72 (Lyon)
Benzema 85 (Lyon)

Full Time. Well, what a game! Lyon were the more attacking team, with all the chances, but it was Fiorentina who went 2-0 into the break. Lyon’s first goal was massively controversial, with an injured Viola player holding his head in the six yard box, the game wasn’t stopped and Lyon played on, were played onside by the downed player and scored. A Clever FK from Juninho with a pass to Karim Benzema levelled the score. MOTM? Benzema. Looked lively all the time, Lyon’s best player by a mile. Thanks for everyone who read, commented, and watched that with me. More reaction to follow on the CL offside.

90+3 – Lyon are attacking and trying to get a winner but I don’t see them breaking the Viola defence again.

4 minutes apparently.

There will be loads of added time after the controversial first OL goal led to ages of nothing.

90 – Juninho just had another FK, just just over the crossbar.

88 – Handball there as Motolivo tried to lift it over the Lyon defence, nothing given though.

Govou off Mounier on for Lyon

86 – Pazzini puts in a cross with his first touch, but its overhit for Mutu

85 – GOAL! Lyon are back! Juninho lines up a FK and the Viola defence puts in a big wall, Juninho catches them out by playing a low ball under the wall to Karim Benzema who makes no mistake. Game on!

81 – Govou frees Benzema, but the through ball is overhit.

80 – Toulalan could have scored there, blasted in from range, just wide.

79 – Pazzini on for Gilardino, like for like of course.

77 – Could have been level. Benzema touches it back and a strike hits a defender and just lands on the roof of the net. From the corner it falls to Toulalan who forces another big Frey save

75 – Fiorentina kick off again after a lot of arguing. Controversial.

72 – GOAL – Despite a Fiorentina player lay down injured in the six yard box, Lyon carried on, and of course, the Lyon attack were all played onside by the player down. Gilardino gives Benzema a piece of his mind, both are booked.

70 – Good cross in there to the dangerzone, deflected out for a CK for Lyon

68 – Juninho’s FK is on target, but Frey punches away.

- Piquionne is on for Fred

67 – Ederson goes down for Lyon, mistimed challenge, looks even worse on replays. Melo booked.

64 – Awful defending from Lyon nearly gives Fiorentina another chance, but its completely mishit.

63 – Kuzmanovic off, Santana on for La Viola.

62 – Up and over from Juninho, but its wide.

- Benzema is hobbling, he might not be coming back.

61 – Reveillere hits one from range, deflected for a corner. Juninho will take of course, back post, and headed out, but only as far as Benzema but an awful tackle will give Juninho a good FK chance. Dainelli is booked.

Makoun is the one coming off, I forgot he was on the pitch.

Ederson is about to come on for Lyon

56 – Fiorentina stick in a cross but Mutu is offside.

55 – Boumsong is rubbish. He must be better than this usually for OL? Because he looks like he was at Newcastle here, which was awful.

53 – Kallstrom puts in a cross with Vargas fails to deal with and Govou should have tapped in, but he miskicked. Its all OL again.

52 – Near post cross from Juninho isn’t quite run onto by anyone. Good ball though.

52 – Not sure what that was from Kallstrom, maybe a cross, but it ended up hitting Frey.

51 – First good chance of the second half, Benzema to Govou on the edge of the box, who stops it for Benzema to run onto and hit, produces a good save from Frey

48 – This half has started really slowly. Lyon have the tail between thier legs, Fiorentina look like the cat with the cream.

46 – A Lyon corner is cleared at the near post. Not looking as good from set pieces as you might expect.

Ah, here come OL, looking like they’ve been yelled at quite a bit. Boumsong hasn’t be substituted Viola fans will be pleased to hear.

Back after the break here, Fiorentina are out on the pitch and Lyon are nowhere to be seen.

Half Time. The Lyon fans are booing. Lyon have been much the better side, attacking constantly, but Viola’s defence has been strong and they have taken the chances they’ve been given by the woeful Lyon defence.

44 – Benzema puts in a cross, he looks really lively, his cross fails to find Fred though.

43 – The subsequent corner is headed out and it falls to Kallstrom who blazes over the crossbar. The commentry team on Sky are ripping Lyon apart here, even though they’ve been the better side.

42 – 50/50 challenge between Vargas and Toulalan looks nasty. Juninho’s subsequent FK is headed away by Vargas who got up pretty quickly.

41 – GOAL! – Against the run of play, La Viola are 2-0 up! The counter attacking is working beautifully. Montolivo plays a good pass to Adrian Mutu, who floats in a cross and Boumsong is completely out of position, and Bodmer doesn’t defend it, leaving Gilardino to just nod in with ease.

38 – Govou puts in a lovely cross, but Benzema misjudges and it drops wide. Another very good chance.

35 – Should have been a goal. Beauty of a cross floated in for Fred who heads past the post.

32 – Another shocking moment from Boumsong, tries to control the ball and plays in Mutu, Boumsong spared by his goalkeeper.

- Why is Boumsong playing instead of Cris? Seems like a bad choice, Boumsong is showing why Newcastle didn’t want him.

31 – Benzema again puts in a cross, this time a daisy cutter, and Fred times his run well, but pressure from the defence means it goes just past the post.

28 – Good chance, again Benzema running down the left, cuts it back this time for Toulalan who hits it with the outside of his right, though he should have hit it with his left. Frey has to stretch to get rid.

26 – Brilliant counter attack from Benzema forces another FK for Juninho from a bit closer. Wall wasn’t the full 10, but Juninho got in on target, though Frey looked comfortable.

25 – 45 yards out and Juninho shoots, doesn’t really have the legs though. That would have been special.

22 – Its broken down a little bit here. The game has been all Lyon other than the goal, but its all got a bit sloppy.

20 – Beautiful drilled free-kick from Almiron for La Viola hits the cross bar.

18 – Dangerous cross from Benzema after beating two defenders to the by line is just inches from Fred’s head which would have been a goal

17 – Terribile defending from Lyon, long aimless pass from Fiorentina leads to a mix up between defender and keeper, and a corner is given away. Corner comes in and the keeper flaps, but comes to nothing.

16 – Juninho’s free-kick goes over the bar. Dissapointing, I suppose he can’t ping them in the corner every time

15 – Juninho just outside the box touches past his man and just waits for a touch so he can win a free kick, Vargas obliges.

14 – Corner kick from Juninho is headed back out for another. Second time its cleared at the near post. In trying to keep the ball in, Juninho conceeds a throw.

13 – Great play by Lyon, Govou makes himself a great chance, but a great tackle from Vargas stops the run.

11 – GOAL! - Fiorentina are ahead, nothing ball comes in and a woeful clearence from Boumsong gives the winger a second chance, and Gilardino nods home.

9 – Govou played in a great low cross there for Benzema but the shot was quite weak.

7 – Lyon should have scored. Corner came in, and Bodmer, the defender or Benzema I’m not sure, overhead kicks against the bar. Ball came back in and Fred couldn’t finish a pretty bed and butter chance.

6 – Beautiful crossfield pass to Benzema, and Benzema’s cross strikes the arm of a Fiorentina defender, no pen though as wasn’t deliberate.

5 – Fred gets Lyon’s first shot, a daisy-cutter easily gathered by Frey

4 – First shot of the evening is from Almiron, Mutu did well to control and cut back, but blazed over and wide.

3 – First Fiorentina attack doesn’t get past a cross, where the cutback is cut out by Boumsong

2 – Awful tackle from Kroldrup there, from behind and high.

1 – Its taken 45 seconds for the Sky commentators to start sterotyping Italian teams as defensive.

Fiorentina will Kick off in a second, from left to right.

Official Line Ups:

Lyon:Lyon: Lloris; Boumsong, Bodmer, Kallstrom, Juninho, Fred, Benzema, Govou, Makoun, Reveillere, Toulalan

Viola: Frey; Kroldrup, Dainelli, Vargas, Mutu, Gilardino, Zauri, Montolivo, Kuzmanovic, Almiron, Melo

- Have to say that the crowd, holding up cards in the glowing green looks great. La Viola are in purple of course, so the crowd look really colourful.

5 Minutes to go – Teams are getting ready to come out onto the pitch. Lyon are oddly in thier away kit (which i like, btw) despite being at home.

- Boumsong is in rather than Cris, and Fred is playing up front with Benzema, Eurosport lied.

15 Minutes till KO – A few players I’m excited about seeing tonight, Juninho I think is fantastic – his free-kick taking is stunning (40! and he can put them anywhere) but he has alot more to his game, Benzema because I really want to see him live up to his growing reputation, Mutu because I’ve always liked him, Montolivo because he is a very underrated player, I think.

25 Minutes to KO – I’m really excited about this one you know. Two teams I quite like, with a fair few players I like but don’t get to see as often as I like. I’m also completely neutral, which is nice.

Alright guys, I’m here to Liveblog this game, a little earlier than expected, and I’m bringing you the expected lineups from Eurosport.

Lyon: Lloris, Reveillére, Bodmer, Cris, Kallstrom, Toulalan, Makoun, Ederson, Govou, Benzema

Fiorentina: Frey, Zauri, Dainelli, Kroldrup, Vargas, Melo, Donadel, Kuzmanovic, Montolivo, Mutu, Gilardino.