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Jose’s men exorcise the demons of Stade Gerland!
In a clinical display of aggressive football, Real Madrid won 0-2 against Olympique Lyonnais,to pick up their first win at France and qualified for the round of 16. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace, to notch up his 99th and 100th goals for Real, en route to the victory. This leaves Real as the only club, among all the eight groups to win all the games and to keep a clean sheet.
Going into the match, Both Real and Lyon had quite a few injury concerns, with Real leaving out Kaka, Marcelo, Arbeloa from the starting XI. For Lyon, Lisandro, Bastos and Cissokho filled the injury list. Mourinho slotted Lassana Diarra as a replacement for Arbeloa (RB) and Lyon had Ederson in place of Bastos in the wings.
Real started the game in a flamboyant fashion, with Cristiano firing a 25 yard shot in the 7th minute and Benzema striking a beauty in the 10th, all to be saved by Hugo Lloris. The pressure finally prevailed, as Real got a freekick at the edge of the box in the 24th. Cristiano, who has been having a torrid time with freekicks in the recent past, placed it brilliantly, to score the opener and also to break his jinx with freekicks! Ozil came close to scoring in the 43rd minute, but saw his weak effort cleanly collected by Lloris. In the other end, Lyon did nothing much in attack, but forced a good save from Iker Casillas in the injury time of the first half. The first half ended with Real enjoying 56% possession and completing 230 passed when compared with
Lyon’s 126.
Lyon started the second half briskly with Gourcuff, who seemed to get better as the game progressed, at the center of their attack. He floated in a freekick in the 48th minute, which Kone bluntly headed back to Iker. Mourinho replaced Coentrao with Raul Albiol (who wore a ‘mask of Zorro’, as Mou had said in the pre match conference!). Lassana Diarra easily fitted in as LB (which came as a shock!), and was rampant down the flanks as well.
Meanwhile Cristiano had a shot near post saved by Lloris, and Lyon failed to convert a goal mouth scramble in Real’s box. In the 69th minute, Ozil played a neat 1-2 with Cristiano, who was brought down in the box by Dabo. Penalty. (This obviously came as a payback, as a handball from Kone went unpunished a few minutes earlier!) A cool finish from Cristiano resulted in the second goal and his 100th for the club. Benzema, after tantalizing the Lyon defense for large parts, was substituted by Higuain, who set up Di Maria in the 78th minute but Maria made a mockery of the easy chance by shooting wide with his weaker right foot. Lyon, had the best chance of the game when Lacazette, who had come on for Gomis, hit the post with a glancing
effort. Kallstrom struck a freekick wide in the 86th minute. Minutes later Briand shot wide, when he was put through on goal, as Lyon were wasteful. On the other hand, Real, had a couple of chances when Cristiano set up Ozil (who had orchestrated most of Real’s attacks and managed to played the full game!) and Callejon in the injury time.
Full Time and Real had notched up their first victory away at Lyon. Mourinho got everything right. His defense was perfect, even Diarra cleanly fitted as a RB and LB! Xabi pulled the strings in the midfield, ably assisted by Khedira. The attacking quadrant of Di Maria , Cristiano, Ozil and Benzema were brilliant and above all, they maintained yet another clean sheet and are the only team in the competition to win all the games. Real Madrid’s quest for La Decima and Mourinho’s quest for his 3rd Champions league with a different team will be a ‘REAL-ity’, if they continue to play such football!
TOP OF THE MATCH
Cristiano Ronaldo – How long can this guy be without scoring?! Hard to answer. He has been less selfish and more productive this season. Deserved his man of the match with a clinical Freekick and a cool penalty.
FLOP OF THE MATCH
Ederson – A replacement for bastos in the wings, but was hardly involved in the game. Was lackluster in both attack and defense.
In a clinical display of aggressive football, Real Madrid won 0-2 against Olympique Lyonnais,to pick up their first win at France and qualified for the round of 16. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace, to notch up his 99th and 100th goals for Real, en route to the victory. This leaves Real as the only club, among all the eight groups to win all the games and to keep a clean sheet.
Going into the match, Both Real and Lyon had quite a few injury concerns, with Real leaving out Kaka, Marcelo, Arbeloa from the starting XI. For Lyon, Lisandro, Bastos and Cissokho filled the injury list. Mourinho slotted Lassana Diarra as a replacement for Arbeloa (RB) and Lyon had Ederson in place of Bastos in the wings.
Real started the game in a flamboyant fashion, with Cristiano firing a 25 yard shot in the 7th minute and Benzema striking a beauty in the 10th, all to be saved by Hugo Lloris. The pressure finally prevailed, as Real got a freekick at the edge of the box in the 24th. Cristiano, who has been having a torrid time with freekicks in the recent past, placed it brilliantly, to score the opener and also to break his jinx with freekicks! Ozil came close to scoring in the 43rd minute, but saw his weak effort cleanly collected by Lloris. In the other end, Lyon did nothing much in attack, but forced a good save from Iker Casillas in the injury time of the first half. The first half ended with Real enjoying 56% possession and completing 230 passed when compared with
Lyon’s 126.
Lyon started the second half briskly with Gourcuff, who seemed to get better as the game progressed, at the center of their attack. He floated in a freekick in the 48th minute, which Kone bluntly headed back to Iker. Mourinho replaced Coentrao with Raul Albiol (who wore a ‘mask of Zorro’, as Mou had said in the pre match conference!). Lassana Diarra easily fitted in as LB (which came as a shock!), and was rampant down the flanks as well.
Meanwhile Cristiano had a shot near post saved by Lloris, and Lyon failed to convert a goal mouth scramble in Real’s box. In the 69th minute, Ozil played a neat 1-2 with Cristiano, who was brought down in the box by Dabo. Penalty. (This obviously came as a payback, as a handball from Kone went unpunished a few minutes earlier!) A cool finish from Cristiano resulted in the second goal and his 100th for the club. Benzema, after tantalizing the Lyon defense for large parts, was substituted by Higuain, who set up Di Maria in the 78th minute but Maria made a mockery of the easy chance by shooting wide with his weaker right foot. Lyon, had the best chance of the game when Lacazette, who had come on for Gomis, hit the post with a glancing
effort. Kallstrom struck a freekick wide in the 86th minute. Minutes later Briand shot wide, when he was put through on goal, as Lyon were wasteful. On the other hand, Real, had a couple of chances when Cristiano set up Ozil (who had orchestrated most of Real’s attacks and managed to played the full game!) and Callejon in the injury time.
Full Time and Real had notched up their first victory away at Lyon. Mourinho got everything right. His defense was perfect, even Diarra cleanly fitted as a RB and LB! Xabi pulled the strings in the midfield, ably assisted by Khedira. The attacking quadrant of Di Maria , Cristiano, Ozil and Benzema were brilliant and above all, they maintained yet another clean sheet and are the only team in the competition to win all the games. Real Madrid’s quest for La Decima and Mourinho’s quest for his 3rd Champions league with a different team will be a ‘REAL-ity’, if they continue to play such football!
TOP OF THE MATCH
Cristiano Ronaldo – How long can this guy be without scoring?! Hard to answer. He has been less selfish and more productive this season. Deserved his man of the match with a clinical Freekick and a cool penalty.
FLOP OF THE MATCH
Ederson – A replacement for bastos in the wings, but was hardly involved in the game. Was lackluster in both attack and defense.
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