September 15th, 2008
Marseille Vs. Lyon
Matchday 6
Stade Velodrome
Attendance-Sold Out
Starting XI
GK: S.Mandanda-74
LB: T.Taiwo-78
CB: J. Rodriguez-78
CB: G. Givet-79
RB: Hilton-79
CDM: L. Cana (Captain)-81
LCM: B. Cheyrou-77
RCM: M. Valbuena-76
RS: H. Ben Arfa-75
LS: D. Cisse-79
CF: M. Niang-81
Pre Game Report: This is a very heated rivalry between Lyon and Marseille. The have fought for the title of best in Ligue 1 for years. Lyon has got the upper hand on 7 straight occasions but Marseille look to change that this year. Lyon are sitting pretty in 2nd right now while Marseille are in 6th. This will be a battle for many things this year. The excitment through the stadium is just pulsing. The fans are going crazy already and the game hasnt even started. We are close to the kickoff at the Velodrome here is Andy Gray for the report of the game
First Half Kickoff: Marseille start the game
4th min- Milan Baros takes a long range effort to see what Mandanda is made of. He saves the shot with ease though.
8th min- Ben Arfa serves a ball in from the right flank. The Lyon defense handles it well though and clears it to safety.
15th min- A long through ball finds Benzima running in stride. He crosses it into the box and Baros has a side volley strike. Right into Mandanda's hands though. If Lyon want to score they will have to challenge him more than that.
20th min- Foul on the captain Cana at midfield.
25th min- Ben Arfa whips another cross in but this time Lyon clear it out for a corner. This could be dangerous Cisse is a corner specialist. Corner is served in by Niang. Cisse gets the the end of it at the pk spot but it caroms off the crossbar and is cleared by the Lyon D. That was close to being the tiebreaker.
28th min- Cana finds an attemped shot on goal rebound to him and lets go a massive rip. Vercoutre parries the ball over the crossbar and out for another corner. Can Marseille capitalize on this one? Cisse gets his head to it again but Lyon doesnt clear it well enogh. Cana gets the rebound and gets fouled right outside the box.
29th min- Cheyrou is up to take the kick. He bends his shot to the right corner......oh just inches over the crossbar. Marseille are taking it to there rivals this year I guess they mean business.
39th min- Another corner for Marseille. If Lyon keep giving them up Marseille should capatilize on atleast one of them. Cheyrou serves it but it comes to nothing.
45th min- Baros does some fancy moves on the left flank and fakes out Taiwo. He serves the ball into the box and Benzema gets his head to it. Mandanda makes a spectacular save to his lower right. That would have been a goal if not for his fast agility to get down that quick.
Halftime: Looks to me as though Marseille are out for blood. They have put the pressure on and kept it up throughout this entire game. Mandanda has only had one shot that has troubled him and he came up with an amazing save to keep it out. On the other side of the pitch the goal has been rocked with shots just not one of them going in. Second half about to start hold on to your seats folks this is a game to keep up with.
Second Half: Lyon kickoff
48th min- Lyon come out the gates on fire everybody. Juninho dribbles down the left side and serves a cross in. Baros makes a diagonal run infront of Rodriguez and directs the ball to the far post. Off the post and into the goal the ball goes. 1-0 Lyon what a turn of events.
58th min- Foul on Djibril Cisse that was a maliscious tackle. No booking though.
82 min- Niang gets the ball down the left hand side of the pitch and beat his defender and serves a cross in. The keeper and Squillaci collide going for the ball and it drops to Valbuena's feet with an open net. Valbuena make sure it counts and burries it into the back of the net to tie the game up. The crowd erupts and starts the chant of
l'OM I'OM. This is a thrilling match ladies and gentleman.
88th min- That has to be a foul on Lyon. Cisse broke free from the pack and was going to be 1v1 with the keep but Fabio Grosso takes him down. The ref says play on. The crowd erupts into a loud roar and boo's the ref while Cisse complains to the ref. That was a very bad call that should have been a booking and a freekick for Marseille.
Fulltime:
That was a very intense game from beggining to end. Lyon scores first even though they were dominated the whole game. Valbuena then rescues a point for Marseille in the late stages of the game. And that no call on Grosso was very bad the freekick could have been the difference maker in the game.
Man of the Match: Mathieu Valbuena
Valbuena celebrating the tying goal against Lyon with Cheyrou