|
A stoppage-time strike from Fred handed Lyon a 2-1 victory over Rosenborg that sets a new club record for points obtained in the Champions' League.
Five wins and a draw sees them qualify from Group F with 16 points, and President Jean-Michel Aulas is sure to be more certain than ever that the French champions can go on to conquer the whole of Europe. Ever the optimist, his boundless enthusiasm will no doubt also have been fuelled by watching a very young line-up finally get the better of their determined opponents.
As promised, Gérard Houllier fielded a vastly inexperienced side with Sunday's local derby against Saint-Etienne in mind. That meant rare starts for Rémy Vercoutre in goal, and for Benoît Pedretti, Jérémy Clément, Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa in a 4-2-3-1 formation. And perhaps unsurprisingly, the new-look team had trouble finding their feet early in the encounter.
They were hardly put under pressure by the long-ball game favoured by their Norwegian visitors, but they struggled to put any dangerous moves together as it became obvious to anyone watching that they hardly ever play together.
Little by little, though, Lyon began to install themselves in Rosenborg's half and Benzema showed he is not lacking in confidence for a 17-year-old by trying his luck whenever he got a look at goal. His early efforts left much to be desired, but he began to find his range and grazed a post on 32 minutes after having breezed past Fredrik Winsnes. And clearly enjoying the occasion, he steered home the opener a minute later after excellent work down the right from former Rosenborg man John Carew.
There was nothing goalkeeper Espen Johnsen could do about the goal, but he was ideally placed to keep out Carew and Ben Arfa early in the second half. From out of nowhere, however, the Trondheim club almost came up with an equaliser when Thorsten Helstad headed against a post.
It was a clear warning sign and Lyon went in search of a second goal through the inevitable Benzema, who forced Johnsen into an excellent save after being well set up by Wiltord. The youngster was on fire, but further back his teammates appeared at times to be asleep, and they were made to pay for their lethargy when Daniel Braaten headed in a long free-kick in the 64th minute.
Houllier's charges nearly hit back immediately, yet Johnsen had other ideas and pulled off two more impressive saves from Benzema in the space of two minutes. The revelation of the night then attempted to curl an effort into the top corner, only to send the ball far over as the Stade Gerland faithful began to grow restless.
They should probably know better than to lose faith by now, though, and substitute Fred handed last year's quarter-finalists all three points by firing past Johnsen with practically the last kick of the game.
The Brazilian striker was set up by Ben Arfa, yet the move had started with Wiltord and Rosenborg's players were furious with the ex-Arsenal forward for not kicking the ball into touch when one of their teammates was lying injured on the turf. A fight broke out between the two sides after the final whistle, but the formidable Lyon machine will not let that or anything else cloud their evening.
|
