The term 'Player of the Week' would probably be banned at Lille, a club that prides itself on having no stars and rolling its collective sleeves up, and in truth it is hard to pick out any one player from their fantastic 3-1 victory at Lyon on Friday.

The northerners often seem to resemble the worryingly homogenous villagers in 60s TV series 'The Prisoner', and that impression was never more reinforced than when Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson deigned only to refer to them by their numbers recently. But no team can hope to overcome European ogres of the calibre of United and Lyon without some supremely talented individuals and, at the Stade Gerland, Kader Keita was the man most determined to give his best Patrick McGoohan impersonation.

At £2m a relatively expensive purchase for such a small club, the 24-year-old forward looked to be a bizarre purchase when he arrived in the summer. A 'crazy dribbler' in his own words, Keita made the odd decision two years ago to showcase his stopovers in the traditionally geriatric Qatari League.

While the Ivory Coast international no doubt enjoyed himself bamboozling past-it defenders, tongues wagged that he was not taking the game seriously enough. The idea of tracking back looked as if it would interfere with the riotous fun he was having and he did little in interviews to dispel the notion he had come in search of the good life. "I can't change who I am," he explained. "Even if the manager of Brazil or Real asked me to, I couldn't do it."

That's when Lille Coach Claude Puel of all people stepped in, and at first it seemed as if the renowned taskmaster had lost his head. His new signing made just one disappointing performance against Toulouse in August before promptly disappearing off the radar again for the next two months. Asked how he was settling in, Keita made some frankly worrying comments about not being used to training in the morning and Puel no doubt received some awkward glances from club number-crunchers in the corridors.

"When I get the ball, I'm still in Qatar and I just want to dribble," added the player. But where 'Big Phil' Scolari apparently would have failed, Puel slowly succeeded in making Keita see the bigger picture. As a result, he has been Les Dogues' most improved performer in recent weeks and impressed observers as much for his defensive work as for his forays forward against the champions.

Combining well with full-back Mathieu Chalmé, who he selflessly helped out on a number of occasions, Keita was an inspiration on Lille's right wing. His pace and close control were the source of various rapid counter-attacks as well, and stand-in Lyon left-back Sylvain Monsoreau will not want to be reminded of the tortuous night he was made to endure.

Unsurprisingly, Keita's attacking verve finally paid dividends in the 61st minute, when his cross after yet another typically quick break was met by the unmarked Mathieu Debuchy at the far post. That sent the visitors two goals clear and a giant step closer to ending Lyon's unbeaten start to the campaign, a feat Puel used to dismiss critics who labelled his side too defensive after they scored just once in the Champions' League.

He may have had a point. In toppling Gérard Houllier's team against the odds they displayed both courage and determination - but the fact that Keita was only allowed six minutes on the European stage may not be a mere coincidence.