Match date: 8 February 2015

Two of the top teams in Ligue Un, with Lyon at the top of the table and Paris Saint Germain just two points behind, it’s a match that could have huge implications on the destination of the league title. It’s importance was heighten thanks to Marseille’s draw against Rennes the day before meaning that both Lyon and Paris Saint Germain could pick up points on their other title rival.

Hubert Fournier and Lyon were without Alexandre Lacazette, who is out through injury, but were again able to call on Gourcuff, who makes his second start since returning from an injury which kept him out for over three months. Fournier continued with a 4-4-2 diamond midfield, with Gourcuff at the top, which would move to a 4-3-3 when Lyon defended.

Laurent Blanc and Paris Saint Germain haven’t enjoyed the relative ease of last year’s campaign, when they were in the top position from week 10 onwards. In fact, they have yet to be top of the league during the current campaign. Blanc named arguably his strongest XI in a 4-3-3.

Lyon’s Defensive Shape

Lyon have conceded the joint-fewest goals in the league, tied with AS Saint-Étienne, and their fantastic defensive disciplined showed against Paris Saint Germain. Typically, against teams that enjoy having the ball, the opposition tends to do one of two things: 1) press very high up the pitch, giving the centre backs little time on the ball and forcing errors and long balls, or, 2) sit very deep in a low block, absorbing pressure, and looking to counter quickly when the ball is won back. Lyon did neither, instead, Fournier had his team defend in a mid block, cutting out the middle of the pitch, but at the same time, allowing David Luiz and Thiago Silva to have time on the ball, but dictated where the Brazilian centre back duo could play the ball.

When Lyon lost the ball and it was with David Luiz, Thiago Silva, or Thiago Motta deep in Paris Saint Germain’s half, N’Jie and Fekir would split wide and Gourcuff would step into the area where a centre forward would typically be from his spot at the top of the Lyon diamond making Lyon look more like a 4-3-3 than a 4-4-2. Ferri and Tolisso would position themselves close to Matuidi and Verratti, and Gonalons would act as cover or mark Ibrahimovic when the Swedish striker dropping deep, as he did regularly. Below is a good example of Lyon’s defensive shape and marking.

What this did was cut off forward passes to Matuidi and Verratti, who began to drop deep alongside Thiago Motta to get onto the ball, in midfield and to Lucas, Cavani, and Ibrahimovic further up the pitch when Luiz and Silva were trying to build out of the back. This frustrated Paris Saint Germain and at times they hit hopeful balls behind the Lyon back line, but more often than not, they were too long and/or Lopes was quick to come out and marshall the situation. So with the passes into midfield cut off by Lyon and the long ball not working and not a desirable or effective option for Paris Saint Germain, they were forced to play into the wide areas, particularly into Maxwell and Marquinhos, who were unmarked unlike Lucas and Cavani.

Maxwell and Matuidi’s Crossing, PSG Chances

While Lyon did well to force Paris Saint Germain into the wide areas, Jallet, who has been a very consistent performer for Lyon this season, sometimes struggled with the amount of space that Maxwell was able to run into as well as the inside movement of Cavani and the runs from centre midfield by Matuidi. The latter often makes runs from midfield into wide left areas, complimenting Cavani’s runs into the penalty area. With an overload in the wide left area, Matuidi and Maxwell were able to get a number of crosses into the Lyon penalty area and both Ibrahimovic and Cavani had chances from crosses that the should have scored on.

Lopes did incredibly well to keep Lyon in the match and was unlucky to have his initial penalty save called back for encroachment, despite both Lyon and Paris Saint Germain players entering the penalty area before Ibrahimovic made contact with the ball. Regardless, Paris Saint Germain had an ample amount of opportunities, especially from the chances that Maxwell and Matuidi created as highlighted above, and certainly did not deserve to drop all three points against Lyon.

Lyon Going Forward, Gourcuff Space

Lyon played fast, vertical balls as they worked the ball up to N’Jie and Fekir and it is reflected in amount of possession that they had; just about 34%. These quick moving passes, however, seemed to unbalance the Paris Saint Germain midfield, in particular, as Verratti, Matuidi, and Motta tried to squeeze the pitch, pressing to try to win the ball back as high up the field as they could. With the Paris Saint Germain midfield trio looking to support the press, it opened up space behind them, between the midfield and defensive lines, which Gourcuff did an excellent job getting into and picked up the ball in these positions on numerous occasions.

How effective Gourcuff was, however, is certainly debatable as he showed obvious signs of lacking sharpness following his long time off the field, but he was an excellent outlet for Lyon on their quick breaks. Fekir did exceptionally well, also, and set up N’Jie for Lyon’s goal. The French U21 player showed very good movement ahead of Gourcuff.

Conclusion

The points were split and, though Paris Saint Germain had a number of chances to put the game well out of reach, and would have had it not been for Lopes, Lyon did well to forced the ball where they wanted it to go, even if that left them exposed at times to crosses. They were able to limit the influence of Cavani, Ibrahimovic, and Lucas, all of whom had relatively quiet games.

The draw sees Lyon stay top of Ligue Un on 50 points while Paris Saint Germain go level on points with Marseille at 48. Lyon play Lorient in their next match and Paris Saint Germain host Caen.