After the disappointed of last week new boys AC Ajaccio picked up their first point of the season quite surprisingly against Olympique Lyonnais. Although Lyon controlled the game with 69% possession and 11 more shots it was Ajaccio that took the lead through Frederic Sammaritano after 59 minutes. Lyon piled on the pressure and finally Lisandro’s back post header saved Lyon’s blushes.
Lyon played with the same 4-4-2 formation that was so successful against Nice last week the only change in the personnel was the debut of central defender Bakary Kone who signed on Thursday night from Guingamp. The 23-year old look composed and assured on his debut (6.6) playing alongside the younger but more experiences Dejan Lovren.
Their opponents made four changes to the side that lost 2-0 to Toulouse and Olivier Pantaloni changed his side from 4-3-3 to a more conservative 4-2-3-1. Anthony Lippini and Leyti N’Diaye came into the defence, Benjamin André made way for Paul Lasne in the midfield and former St-Etienne and Sochaux striker Ilan replaced Richard Socrier as the lone front-man.
The battle for midfield superiority brought the best out of Lyon’s Maxime Gonalons and Ajaccio’s Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi. Gonalons has started the season well and again impressed in the defensive midfield position (7.0) no other player completed as many passes (69) and he showed he is not afraid to do the dirty work with 3 successful tackles and 5 interceptions, many Lyon fans will be asking Toulalan who?
Ajaccio did battle well and Pierazzi gave Gonalons and Kim Kallstrom a hard time in the middle of the park, with 3 tackles, 3 interceptions and 7 clearances he had a very busy midfield.
In order to stifle the good play of Lyon, Ajaccio’s game plan was to keep the midfield and the defence very tight and make Lyon play the ball wide. Not only did the midfielders tuck inside but full-backs Lippini and Begeorgi made sure to keep the backline as narrow as possible.
Michel Bastos often drifted inside giving Aly Cissokho the pace to advance up the left flank, Jimmy Briand and Anthony Réveillere made forays down the right.
With all the space allowed out wide it was a disappointing performance from Michael Bastos, one of Lyon’s lowest ranked players at 6.2. He made 15 crosses throughout the box but none of them seemed to put Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa in any trouble.
Coach Pantaloni will have been very happy with his sides’ performance, keeping the midfield tight and defending well and then using the energy of Sammaritano and Cristian Kinkela to push forward whenever the opportunity arose.
The performance of Kinkela on the wings was very impressive, often switching sides he could be found on the left as much as on the right. Constantly taking on players his 4 successful dribbles and 3 crosses eventually helped to open the scoring.
After beating Lovren wide on the right Kinkela played an excellent ball to the back post and Sammaritano got in front of Réveillere to find the finish past Hugo Lloris. It was only one of Ajaccio’s two shots on target but it would prove enough to earn a point.
Lyon would not give up the three points without a fight, after taking the lead Ajaccio were on the back foot and Lyon managed eight shots on target before finally finding the net. Man of the Match Lisandro Lopez saw a shot blocked and a header saved before he finally beat Ochoa.
Substitute Miralem Pjanic had come on for Kallstrom and it was the Bosnian midfielder that found the killer pass, a well-timed cross to the back post saw Lisandro power a header past Ajaccio’s Mexican keeper and Lyon brought themselves level.
Looking to claim all three points the home side poured forward, Pjanic nearly went from provider to game winner when his shot crashed off the post with three minutes left and Lyon would have to do with only a point from their first home game.
Ajaccio will be happy to leave the Stade Gerland with a point after losing at home on the opening day. Rémi Garde enjoyed some excellent praise from his sides win last week, they will feel unlucky not to make it two out of two but the signs are there this team is on the right tracks.
