PLAYER RATINGS | Lille 1-2 Lyon: Endrick scores as Les Gones progress into the Coupe de France RO16

Coupe de France Crédit Agricole, Round of 32, 11/01/26

Lyon progress into the Coupe de France Round of 16 thanks to a gritty away win in the Nord. Endrick scored the winning goal after Nathan Ngoy cancelled out Afonso Moreira’s opener.

Bruno Genesio and Paulo Fonseca faced their former teams as Lille hosted Lyon in the Coupe de France Round of 32. The Frenchman opted to start back-up goalkeeper Arnaud Bodart, and it only took a minute for the Belgian to pick up the ball in his own net. Bodart only had himself to blame as he was way too slow to react following some miscommunication with Nathan Ngoy. Afonso Moreira reaped the rewards to give Lyon an early lead.

Bodart was close to making a second blunder as Real Madrid loanee Endrick lined up a long-range shot that the Belgian could only clear into his right post. Lille tried to grow into the game, but they struggled to beat Les Gones ‘ midfield press.

Lille eventually restored parity with one of their first forays into Rémy Descamps’ penalty box. The Lyon back-up goalie clumsily parried Felix Correia’s cross into the path of Hakon Haraldsson, who squares it to Ngoy. The Belgian centre-back made no mistake from close range.

Lyon lost control as Ngoy’s equalizer breathed new life into Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Pavel Sulc and Tyler Morton were both needlessly booked, and Les Gones were undebted to some very good defending from Dutch centre-back Ruben Kluivert.

Minutes before half-time, Lyon retook their lead superbly. With a touch of genius, Corentin Tolisso deflcted Moreira’s swerving cross into the path of Endrick, who only needed a touch to beat Bodart.

In the second half, Lyon retained their high press which forced Lille to work their way into the wide areas. But Lille’s wingers and full-backs had an off game. Problems deepened for Bruno Genesio as Benjamin André was forced off with an apparent shoulder injury.

Lille cranked up the pressure as time ran out, but Olivier Giroud and his teammates upfront offered limited attacking output. The former France international was even recalled to the bench in the last ten minutes when Lille chased an equalizer.

Tiago Santos struck Rémy Descamps’ right post from range, but Lyon stood firm to progress into the Coupe de France RO16.

Rémy Descamps – 4

Nicolas Tagliafico – 5

Ruben Kluivert – 7

The Dutch centre-back raised eyebrows in the first half of the campaign with a streak of questionable performances. Recently, he has brilliantly fills in with Moussa Niakhaté off at the AFCON with Senegal. He was imperious again tonight.

Clinton Mata – 5

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 5

Tyler Morton – 5

The former Liverpool midfielder is not as influential as he was during the first part of the campaign, but he remains a vital cog in the engine room thanks to his passing quality.

Tanner Tessmann – 6

Afonso Moreira – 6

Corentin Tolisso – 7

The 2018 World Cup winner continues to shine as a tireless box-to-box midfielder. Key in Lyon’s dominance in the first half and clinched a brilliant assist for Endrick’s goal.

Pavel Sulc – 5

Endrick – 6

The Real Madrid loanee was the focal point of attention for his Lyon debut, and he didn’t disappoint. The Brazilian was a lively and involved outlet and took his goal, at such an important moment, with composure. A promising debut. Replaced by Adam Karabec.

Arnaud Bodart – 3

He can only blame himself for Lille going behind the first minute of play and he barely got the chance to redeem himself. Shaky in his distribution.

Ayyoub Bouaddi – 6

Olivier Giroud – 4

GFFN | Bastien Cheval