At Groupama Stadium, Lyon won 2-1 Sunday in the 121e derby against Saint-Étienne. Tactical analysis of a balanced encounter.
In an empty stadium, Lyonnais and Stéphanois fought an intense battle. In an attempt to secure a 44th success and equal ASSE in derby history, Rudi Garcia’s OL come in 4-3-3.
Opposite, Claude Puel has his people in a 4-2-3-1 which sometimes turns into 4-4-2. In midfield, Lucas Gourna-Douath is playing his first Ligue 1 match as a starter.
Disciplined Greens
Very quickly, the Greens left the ball to their opponents. They then position themselves in a permanent 4-4-2 in the defensive phase.
Applied tactically, the Stéphanois closed the spaces and cut the various Lyon pass lines. The block is compact and leaves very few opportunities for OL to move the ball.
Saint-Étienne in particular prevents his rivals from finding solutions inside the game. The axis and the half-spaces are very often locked, forcing the Rhone to seek a solution on the sides.
Claude Puel’s players are also tough on man. The ball carrier is on target with his back to the game to prevent him from rolling over and forcing him to back up. Karl Toko Ekambi bears the brunt of pressure from Miguel Trauco (white circle).
ASSE’s defensive demeanor is not flawless, however. Leaving energy in the many trips to maintain a compact block, the Stéphanois are sometimes several meters behind each other (white circles). Here, Maxence Caqueret manages to inherit the ball in the middle of three opponents. At his side, Bruno Guimaraes offers a first solution, while Memphis Depay (blue circle) can take advantage of a space between four players to receive a pass and turn around.
In possession of the ball, the Greens on the other hand have difficulties to progress on the ground. Movements are lacking to ensure the exit of the ball, as here where the partners of Harold Moukoudi (white circles) do not try to get rid of the Lyon marking to reach a free space and facilitate the pass.
Even without real pressure from the opposing side, ASSE players are sometimes too far away from the carrier to advance in short play.
Yvan Neyou, boss of the middle
Within the Stéphanois bloc, Yvan Neyou was particularly valuable. His volume of play and his anticipation allowed ASSE to collect many balls. He ended the game with eight successful tackles and four interceptions, the highest total * among the two teams.
The Cameroonian (white circle) also showed an ease in orienting himself in the direction of the play and attacking free spaces with the ball to the foot. He is also the most skilful Stéphanois in his passes with 83% success (24/29). *
The Lyon sides, attack zone …
In an attempt to penetrate the green block, OL initially moved to 4-3-3, betting on a Guimaraes-Caqueret-Aouar trio in the midfield, particularly complementary and effective in the Champions League this summer. Maxence Caqueret is very active in forming triangles and facilitating the movement of the ball.
But OL are struggling to progress in the last third of the pitch to be dangerous. Les Gones then abandoned the 4-3-3 for a 4-2-3-1.
In this new device, Bruno Guimaraes and Maxence Caqueret form the double pivot. The Brazilian (blue circle) regularly approaches his central defenders to help the recovery, while his partner (red circle) is placed between the first two lines of Saint-Etienne.
Memphis Depay is moving higher, in a free electron position behind Moussa Dembélé. He moves across the width of the pitch in order to try to be a constant solution within the game. But the Dutchman is very often caught by an opponent and only succeeds 29% of his dribbles (2/7) , worst rate of the match. The Lyon captain is in the company of Houssem Aouar (blue circles) between the opposing lines, aligned to the left of 4-2-3-1 but repeating the calls to the axis.
But most of the Lyon entertainment takes place on the wings. From the first quarter of an hour, Léo Dubois (blue circle) positioned himself very high on his right side and called the ball deep. Here, he tries to take advantage of the disagreement in the placement between two Stéphanois (white circle).
The French international is not the only Rhone to repeat races in this area. In this phase of play, Karl Toko Ekambi (red circle) makes a half-space call similar to that of his partner on the wing.
Came into play in place of Bruno Guimaraes, Thiago Mendes is trying to take advantage of this trend. The Brazilian repeats the well-felt transversals for the wings. Also replacing at kick-off, Tino Kadewere (blue circle) makes speak his speed and his quality of overflow to pursue this idea of the game. But if the Zimbabwean scores a double, technical waste and a lack of established circuits in the circulation of the ball prevents OL to grow its possessions.
… and suffering
The sides are also at the heart of the analysis of the Lyon project without a ball. In the defensive phase, Rudi Garcia’s men adopt a 4-4-1-1 system.
Quickly, flaws appear. The lines are often too far apart, offering interior pass solutions that can be easily exploited by Saint-Étienne.
Above all, the Greens are easily found on the wings and in the half-spaces. Transmissions from the outside to the inside were poorly contained by the Lyon rearguard. Here, the poor communication between the defenders leaves Denis Bouanga alone in the penalty area. The Gabonese will open the scoring a few seconds later.
Many spaces are also left in the Rhone lateral backs. In this sequence, Denis Bouanga (white circle) starts behind a Maxwel Cornet (blue circle) who does not manage depth. Yvan Neyou perfectly launches his partner in the free zone.
Denis Bouanga then found himself in an ideal position to bring danger in front of Anthony Lopes’s goal, while Maxwel Cornet could no longer intervene. A situation that is repeated throughout the match.
Despite the loss, Claude Puel can be satisfied with a tactical and defensive performance from his players, especially in the first half. For his part, Rudi Garcia does not seem to have found a cure for the ailments observed for several months on the side of OL.
* Statistics provided by Whoscored.com
Photo credits of Une: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek – AFP
Game image credits: BT Sport
