Lyon vs Manchester United, 2007/08 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16

· 1st Leg

Lyon

54': Karim Benzema

FT
1 - 1
1st Leg

Manchester United

87': Carlos Tevez

About

Lyon are hosting Manchester United at Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France, starting on . The match is a part of the UEFA Champions League.

Match Timeline

0': Join us at 1945 GMT for our LIVE Gamecast from the Stade de Gerland.
0': Roll up, roll up! Who fancies live commentary on Lyon v Manchester United in the Champions League? Me, you say? Well good, because its right here with me, Chris Murphy with the action kicking off at 7.45pm.
0': The team news, without futher ado, starting with our French hosts: Coupet, Grosso, Reveillere, Clerc, Squillaci, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Juninho, Kallstrom, Toulalan, Govou, Benzema.
0': As for Manchester United: Edwin Van der Sar, Ferdinand, Brown, Evra, Vidic, Giggs, Scholes, Hargreaves, Ronaldo, Anderson and the indomitable Wayne Rooney.
0': So, how is this one going to pan out I hear you cry? Well it's cut and dried if you look at both teams latest performances. Lyon lost to lowly Le Mans at the weekend while Manchester United battered Premier League leaders Arsenal 4-0.
0': As for the last Champions League encounter between the two - in the group stages of the 2004/5 campaign - Manchester United won 4-3 on aggregate, beating Lyon 2-1 at home then securing a 2-2 draw on French soil.
0': So, its the French Champions against the English Champions. It should be an excellent game, and the teams emerge to a wall of sound. What a great atmosphere inside the stadium.
1': Here we go.....
2': Superb noise coming from both sets of fnas...
3': Of course, I shall endeavour to keep you up to date with the rest of the evening's UCL scores as and when they happen.
4': The game springs to life! A decent cross from Toulalan forces Ferdinand into action then Ronaldo's shot at the other end is blocked by Boumsong. Corner.
5': Anderson's ball in is well cleared and Lyon regroup.
6': A special mention by the way for Ryan Giggs, who is making his 100th Champions League appearance for Manchester United. He's been a superb player, for a very long time.
6': Great opening for Lyon! Toulalan crosses, Govou collects but his shot is blocked by Ferdinand then turned behind for a corner!
8': From the corner Clerc came round the back and should have done better as he met a bouncing ball. A let off for the visitors.
9': Now Rooney tries to outpace Squillaci but the Lyon stopper ushers the ball behind for a goal kick.
10': Now Rooney tries a shot from distance after a decent ball from Wes Brown. Although it was a distance out, the England striker will be disappointed he didn't strike it better.
11': Its been pretty even in the opening exchanges so far. By the way, Rooney is up top on his todd, as expected.
12': Reveillere tries to cross for Lyon this time but Vidic hacks clear.
13': Now kim Kallstrom tries to better Rooney's long range effort, but his scuffed drives trickles meaninglessly wide.
14': Rooney, of course, is up against the hapless Jean Alain Boumsong, who had a season long nightmare at Newcastle United you may recall. If you don't, then imagine Titus Bramble. But ten times worse.
16': The midfield is jam-packed worse than the Hammersmith flyover in London at 6pm. Both strikers look very isolated at present.
17': Super free kick from Juninho, towards the aforementioned Boumsong. Ferdinand heads behind for a corner, which comes to nowt.
19': Celtic have taken the lead against Barcelona! Vennegoor of Hesselink nods home and Celtic Park goes nuts!
20': Back in Lyon the game has got a little scrappy of late.
21': Its all happening! Juninho shoots from 45 yards and Van der Sar saves while Lionel Messi has scored for Barca to make it 1-1 at Celtic Park.
22': Ooh, Govou has had a shocker there! The ball was rolled across for him by Squillaci and he missed the ball entirely with his right, then promptly fell over. Hmmm, interesting.
23': My word! Ferdinand swings wildly at a cross from Toulalan and it dribbles narrowly wide! Corner.
24': Squillaci and Vidic climb and it runs behind for another corner.
25': This corner flies past everyone, and United look far from comfortable in the air so far.
26': The first golden chance of the game and Rooney has fluffed it! He touches the ball past Boumsong and with only the keeper to beat, delays his shot too long and Coupet gets a block on it. It should have been 1-0.
27': Now Lyon have a great chance! Benzema flashes a shot just over the bar from 16 yards as Reveillere laid it back for him. It could have been 1-1 in a matter of seconds!
28': Wonderful skill from Ryan Giggs, a step over then a slide rule pass to Scholes whose left foot shot is blocked by Boumsong.
29': United force their third corner in succession but Giggs' ball is too deep and Govou collects.
31': After that flurry of goalmouth action, the game has settled back to a rather more pedestrian pace.
32': Fenerbahce 1-1 Seville by the way.
33': Free kick for United, probably just out of Ronaldo range, after the winger himself was chopped down by Reveillere.
34': Ronaldo tries a wildly ambitious effort, which the wall blocks, then has another pop from the rebound which he screws well wide.
36': Now Kallstrom hacks down Ronaldo and he gets a yellow card. French TV tells me that Reveillere was booked for his earlier challenge on the winger too. So now you know.
37': Lovely move by United, started by a sublime piece of touch and vision by Ronaldo. At the end of it Giggs was torn between shooting and passing and in the end, didn't really do either. A waste.
38': Two slips have cost Manchester United a couple of decent opportunites. First Scholes, then Rooney.
39': Now Govou goes down aftr a nasty challenge from Hargreaves, the ref doesn't show a yellow - Lyon go nuts and Boumsong is booked in protest. Juninho is lining up the free kick, which is at a bit of an angle.
40': Its a poor effort from Juninho - well over.
41': Celtic have taken the lead again against Barca! 2-1!
41': A super bit of skill from Reveillere, who blocks off Ronaldo then swivels and plays a lovely ball to Toulalan down the right flank.
43': Its all a bit too tight in midfield again as united look to build.
44': Now Rooney and Ronaldo combine well before Toulalan slides in to concede a corner.
44': Ha, ha! Boumsong shows he still hasn't lost his awful first touch! His mate Squillaci bails in to try and help him out but hauls down Giggs and concedes a free kick on the left wing.
45': Ronaldo fizzed it in and the keeper had to parry clear. Wicked delivery.
45': Ronaldo meets Giggs' corner well, but can't direct his header. HT imminent.
45': There we are. A first half that burst to life after half an hour but neither team could convert their chances. See you in 15....
46': We're off again footy fans..
46': Rooney gets stuck in straight away, piling into Clerc early doors in the second period.
48': Hopefully we should see the game open up a bit in the second half as Lyon surely can't rely on going to Old Trafford and winning the game, can they?
48': Its all very bitty so far. Come on lads, giz a goal yeah?
49': Lovely burst from Evra, who took Ronaldo's ball and beat two men before his charge is stopped at the expense of a corner.
50': Lyon clear the corner well - United haven't made the most of their many corners to date.
51': Manchester United are in total control so far this half.
52': Evra again looks to get into the box but Toulalan blocks his run off as he went for a return pass from Ronaldo.
53': Scholes has a punt from range and Coupet does well to prevent the corner after it took a big deflection.
54': GOAL! Benzema! What a strike! He's fired a blockbuster past Van der Sar from the edge of the box when he was surrounded by Reds' defenders!
55': That is the first sniff Benzema had had all night and didn't he do well! He was boxed in slightly but still managed to strike it left footed and it flew in off the post. Game on!
56': Barca have drawn level at Celtic Park, 2-2! Its all happening!
57': The Stade de Gerland is ROCKING after that Benzema strike!
58': Vidic does well as Benzema bore down on goal there. He blocked the youngster out wide.
59': Its ironic Lyon should open the scoring as the Red Devils had looked very bright up until Benzema had a punt.
60': BREAKING NEWS SHOCK! Boumsong in vital interception shocker! The defender does extremely well to block a Ronaldo shot after about a million stepovers.
61': The crowd are singing: 'Benz, Benz, Benzema!'
62': Decent counter attack from United involves a one-two between Ronaldo and Anderson, but the former's deep cross is turned behind by Coupet. Corner.
63': Another poor delivery from the corner. United have been poor in that respect this evening.
64': Hargreaves does well to pressure Boumsong and his tackle falls to Rooney but he is flagged offside.
65': Scholes is coming off, to be replaced by Carlos Tevez and Nani is on for Ryan Giggs. Two up top maybe...
66': So, experience makes way for youth. Interesting.
67': A smast save is required from Van der Sar as Clerc hammers one across the face of goal. The Dutchman held on well.
68': Benzema shows nice close control when surrounded by five United players, then the ref takes pity on him and whistles for a free kick.
69': Ooh! Juninho fires in a free kick from 35 yards which has Van der Sar scrambling, but the ball flashes wide of the post.
70': Ooh! United had the ball in the net but Rooney is flagged offside after he taps in Teve's header. It may have been going in of its own accord before Wayno got involved. United look sharper and more urgent all of a sudden with two up top now.
71': Nani has looked especially tricky so far.
72': Looks like Lyon are going to make a change in a minute too.
73': Lyon are content to sit and hold onto their one goal lead for the remaining 18 minutes it seems.
74': Here is the change, Mathieu Bodmer is on for the playmaker Juninho. Yep, they are definitely happy with a 1-0 win, if they can see it out.
76': Ooh, Govou has been terrible tonight! He charged into the box well there and should have pulled the trigger but delayed and allowed Vidic to rob him of the ball.
77': Michael Carrick is coming on for Hargeaves, and Ben Arfa is on for Clerc.
78': Lyon are now playing solely on the break and the pressure is all coming from United.
80': The crowd howl as Tevez goes down under the challenge of Squillaci and the ref gives a free kick on half way.
81': Ben Arfa announces his arrival with a wild shot.
82': Ten minutes left for United to salvage something in France..
83': A lovely mazy dribble from Ben Arfa who worked himself to the edge of the box then mishit his shot on his weaker right foot.
84': Ooh, so nearly controversy as a Lyon pass is blocked by the ref, then Rooney works a shooting chance for Tevez who is flagged offside - probably only to spare the ref's embarrassment had the ball gone in.
85': The hero of the hour, Benzema, is off and Fred is on.
85': Messi scores a beautiful goal for Barca who now lead Celtic 3-2!
86': Ronaldo fires in a curling free kick and Coupet turns it behind for a corner.
87': GOAL! It had been coming. Lyon fail to clear the corner, there is a ping pong session in the box and Tevez slots home from close range. 1-1.
87': Before that Carrick had a shot blocked on the line, then Tevez missed a header as Nani flashed in a cross, but the Argentine wasn't to be denied and as the ball ricocheted back to him he made no mistake from four yards.
88': United are still pouring forward!
89': Now the visitors are stringing passes along the back four and I think we can safely say this game is going to finish 1-1.
90': Three minutes of time to be added.
91': Rooney and Tevez end up tackling each other when the break was on for Manchester United! Oh the calamity!
93': That's that then and the late goal hands Manchester United a precious away goal and reinstalls them as favourites to finish the job back at Old Trafford, and progress through to the last eight. Thanks for your company, until next time.

Statistics

MAN		LYON
14	Fouls	16
1	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
3	Offsides	1
9	Corner Kicks	4
2	Saves	2
59.3	Possession	40.7
16	SHOTS	13
3	ON GOAL	3
0.2	On Target %	0.2
0	Penalty Goals	0
0	Penalty Kicks Taken	0
406	Accurate Passes	267
502	Passes	345
0.8	Pass Completion %	0.8
4	Accurate Crosses	4
21	Crosses	17
0.2	Cross %	0.2
66	Long Balls	41
35	Accurate Long Balls	15
0.5	Long Balls %	0.4
10	Blocked Shots	3
16	Effective Tackles	21
22	Tackles	25
0.7	Tackle %	0.8
0	Interceptions	0
22	Effective Clearances	22
38	Clearances	36

Game Information

Competition: UEFA Champions League

Venue: Stade de Gerland
Location: Lyon, France
Attendance: 39,230

Line-Ups

Lyon

No.	Name
1	Gregory Coupet (GK)
2	François Clerc
29	Sébastien Squillaci
11	Fabio Grosso
20	Anthony Reveillere
32	Jean-Alain Boumsong
28	Jérémy Toulalan
6	Kim Källström
8	Juninho
10	Karim Benzema
14	Sidney Govou

Lyon Substitutes:

Fred, Rémy Vercoutre, Mathieu Bodmer, Kader Keita, Cris, César Delgado, Hatem Ben Arfa.

Manchester United

No.	Name
1	Edwin van der Sar (GK)
5	Rio Ferdinand
3	Patrice Evra
6	Wes Brown
15	Nemanja Vidic
18	Paul Scholes
8	Anderson
4	Owen Hargreaves
7	Cristiano Ronaldo
11	Ryan Giggs
10	Wayne Rooney

Manchester United Substitutes:

Nani, Carlos Tevez, Michael Carrick, Tomasz Kuszczak, Louis Saha, Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea.

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