PARIS — Days after being linked with a potential move to Barcelona, teenage midfielder Houssem Aouar scored twice as Lyon rallied to win 2-1 at Amiens on Sunday.
The win moved Lyon above defending champion Monaco on goal difference and into second place, nine points behind runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain.
Aouar started and finished the move that drew Lyon level in the 79th and calmly volleyed in the winner four minutes into injury time.
The 19-year-old Aouar is the latest young talent to come through Lyon’s prodigious youth academy, and was recently supervised by Barcelona. His astute passing, and skill and composure on the ball, are all attributes that reportedly pleased the Catalan giant.
Aouar is equally adept at cutting in from the left — which he did for Lyon’s equalizer — or sitting in a more central midfield role.
Over the years, Lyon’s academy has given young players the chance to shine by bringing them into the team quickly. It has produced Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette and Nabil Fekir, the club’s top scorer this season and another player widely tipped to move to a bigger club in the summer.
With 11-goal Fekir kept quiet, Aouar rescued Lyon against a confident Amiens team that scored in the ninth minute through forward Serge Gakpe’s close-range finish.
Lyon thought it had equalized in the 18th but forward Memphis Depay’s free kick was ruled out because Lyon defender Kenny Tete was offside.
Aouar’s equalizer was reward for his perseverance and talent.
Coming in from the left, he beat two players, fed a pass to midfielder Tanguy Ndombele and then sprinted to slide home Ndombele’s pass across the penalty area.
After Amiens forward Gael Kakuta hit the post with a penalty 10 minutes later, Aouar’s winner sparked scenes of jubilation on the Lyon bench. Striker Mariano Diaz burst into the area and, rather than shooting, cleverly sent a looping pass toward the left post where Aouar volleyed the ball neatly into the right corner.
Lyon coach Bruno Genesio, who had earlier been banished from the bench, sprinted ecstatically down the dressing room corridor after Aouar’s winner.
PSG and Monaco won their games on Saturday.
——
SUPER MARIO
Mario Balotelli’s cushioned volley from the edge of the penalty area gave Nice a 2-1 win at fifth-place Nantes.
The Italian striker had just missed a more straightforward chance when he curled a first-time volley into the bottom right corner in the 75th minute, with speedy winger Allan Saint-Maximin again the provider.
It was Balotelli’s ninth goal in 12 league games and prompted one fan to sprint onto the field to congratulate him. The match was briefly held up while security staff wrestled the intruder to the ground and then removed him.
Nice was indebted to goalkeeper Walter Benitez, who made a stunning point-blank save from midfielder Jules Iloki’s header shorty after Balotelli’s goal.
Forward Yacine Bammou put Nantes ahead in the 12th minute. Striker Alassane Plea headed the equalizer close to halftime.
Following a terrible start to the season, Nice is finding some form and is up to eighth place.
Later Sunday, fourth-place Marseille faced Saint-Etienne.
No comments:
Write comments