Lyon settled for second place in Group E despite a convincing 4-0 win over lowly Debrecen.
French finish second after dominant display
Lyon settle for second place in Group E despite a convincing 4-0 win over lowly Debrecen.
Bafetimbi Gomis, Michel Bastos, Miralem Pjanic and Aly Cissokho all found the scoresheet in a one-sided affair at Stade Gerland.
The French side were in control throughout and took the lead midway through the first half when Gomis took advantage of some sloppy goalkeeping by Debrecen shot-stopper Djordje Pantic.
Pjanic found Bastos in acres of space minutes later on the left channel as the French midfielder doubled the advantage with a powerful left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
Lyon continued to dominate as the visitors found little in response - Pjanic made it three for the home side with a timely run into the six-yard-box.
Soon after, Cissokho hammered the final nail in the coffin as he weaved in and out of the Debrecen back four before drilling home a powerful left-foot shot.
Despite their dominant display the French side settle for second place in Group E with Fiorentina having secured a late winner against Liverpool to finish in top spot.
Dominant display
Lyon made their intentions clear from the start as they piled on the pressure at Stade Gerland, menacing their Hungarian opponents in search of an early breakthrough.
Cissokho was an ever-threatening presence on the left wing and almost helped the French to an early lead with a strong delivery in to Gomis.
Debrecen cleared only as far as Antoine Reveillere whose powerful shot from long range skidded fractionally wide of the far post.
The visitors had their fair share of possession in the early stages and had a decent chance on the 15-minute mark when Peter Czvitkovics' driving free kick was tipped wide of the left post by Hugo Lloris.
Lyon responded through Jean Makoun who picked up on a strong cross from the right channel to produce a simple tap-in only to be flagged offside by the perfectly positioned linesman.
Just minutes later they found their breakthrough courtesy of some sloppy Debrecen defending.
Jozsef Varga seemed half asleep when dispossessed by Sidney Govou. The French forward struck a weak shot which was tipped clear by Pantic only as far as Gomis who made easy work of a simple tap in from close range.
Lyon doubled their lead just before the stroke of half time as Miralem Pjanic found Michel Bastos in acres of space on the left channel.
The French midfielder's first touch was superb leaving him clear to power a low shot left-footed into the bottom corner.
Debrecen found little in response as Lyon once again gained the upper hand in the second half.
Gomis came close to securing his second of the game when finding himself on the end of a superb delivery from the right-channel but, at full stretch, could only hit the ball over the crossbar.
Minutes later Lyon made it three as Bastos picked out Pjanic with a superb delivery into the six-yard-box - Pjanic timed his run to perfection to power the ball into the bottom corner.
Debrecen looked to have half a chance of pegging one back as Meszaros found the end of a decent free-kick but failed to find his feet and subsequently lost possession.
Zoltan Kiss tried to do better with a long-range effort minutes later as his shot skidded close forcing Lloris to make the save.
It wasn't meant to be, though, and the fourth goal came at the other end as Cissokho weaved in and out of the Debrecen back-four before drilling home a powerful left-foot shot.
| Lyon |
Team Statistics |
Debreceni |
| 4 |
Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 8 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 0 |
Corners |
7 |
| 19 |
Fouls |
22 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 81.5 |
Passing Success |
73.2 |
| 16 |
Tackles |
10 |
| 81.2 |
Tackles Success |
70 |
| 61.5 |
Possession |
38.5 |
| 52.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
47.3 |
|
