against Lille, the relapse of an OL without success

Olympique Lyonnais concedes a seventh defeat in twelve matches played this season, against Losc, Sunday evening (0-2).

A victory, and that’s it. The Lyonnais, who had stopped the bleeding against Rennes before the break (1-0), fell back into their mistakes against Losc, Sunday November 26. They lost 2-0 at home after another missed match. Jonathan David (27th) and Tiago Santos (32nd) showed efficiency to allow the Mastiffs to score, everything the Gones lacked.

“Olé” chanted by the public on the succession of opposing passes, whistles at half-time and a bronca at the end of the match… For the first time this season, Groupama Stadium let its players go. Apart from ten minutes of highlights punctuated by wasted opportunities, the Lyonnais were powerless with the ball and sometimes spectators in the defensive phase. Lille supporters will thank them for having revived Jonathan David, lacking confidence and who had not scored since the 3rd day, at the end of August.

With his team trailing 2-0 at the break, Fabio Grosso tried to create a new dynamic, which did not show an overwhelming desire, with a triple change, including the exit of Alexandre Lacazette, replaced by Mama Baldé. But the Guinea-Bissau striker was not successful with a header that went over the frame when he was alone in front of the goal (57th), then a duel lost against Lucas Chevalier (59th). Enough to annoy the Bad Gones, the Lyon ultras, who quipped: “Knight, if you’re nice, let Mama Baldé score”.

Fortunately for OL, its competitors are standing still

Fabio Grosso tried a new, more incomprehensible move, by making the surprising choice of replacing an attacker, Tino Kadewere, to bring in a defender, Dejan Lovren (65th). The score remained frozen at 2-0 to the disadvantage of the Lyonnais who, despite their attitude, finished the match with more Expected Goals than Lille (2.19 against 1.49 – a statistic which measures the number of goals that should have entered a team based on the dangerousness of its shots). This is the sixth time this season that they have failed to win despite having higher Expected Goals than their opponent.

“We missed goals, even easy ones, but we can’t do anything. When you don’t have confidence, it’s difficult”, regretted Fabio Grosso at a press conference. His team is still in last place in the championship, and his arrival on the bench in mid-September has not reversed the very negative spiral. The Italian is off to the worst start for a Les Gones coach in Ligue 1, with just 5 points in 7 games.

“Does the link still work with the players? I think so. Then if it doesn’t work, someone has to look and make decisionshe responded, defeatist, at the microphone of Prime Video after the meeting. We know that we are in a position where we will lose more matches than we win, but we will have to win enough matches to catch up with the teams in front. It’s difficult to say that when you represent OL, its history and its supporters.”. In their misfortune, the Lyonnais are lucky not to see the gap widen with their closest competitors, Clermont, Lorient, Toulouse and Montpellier, all losing at the same time. OL remain five points from first non-relegation.