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Half-time reading
And if you haven’t seen or even read about Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s goal, what the hell are you doing here?
Half time: Lyon 1-1 Man Utd
It’s all square after an interesting first half in France. Thiago Almada put Lyon ahead after a mistake from Andre Onana, but Leny Yoro changed the mood in the last seconds of the half.
Garnacho was fouled on the right wing, allowing Fernandes to line up another free-kick. He hammered it into the six-yard box, where Perri dived in front of a blue shirt to punch the ball away to the edge of the area. Ugarte swished a flying volley that was going wide until Yoro leapt to redirect it into the net. An instinctive header from Yoro, and a helluva time to score his first United goal.
GOAL! Lyon 1-1 Man Utd (Yoro 45+5)
Leny Yoro scores his first goal for Man Utd on the stroke of half-time!
45+3 min: Brilliant defending from Mazraoui! Tolisso played a crisp pass to Mikautadze, who ran at the backpedalling Mazraoui. At one stage Lyon had a two-on-one so all Mazraoui could do was stall for time. When defensive support arrived, he dispossessed Mikautadze in the area with a challenge that was vaguely reminiscent of Bobby Moore on Pele. Vaguely.
45+2 min Mazraoui does really well to take Cherki’s long cross off the head of Tolisso. He almost undoes his good work by losing the ball on the Lyon left but recovers to concede a corner. Nothing comes of it.
45+1 min “What is the etiquette for returning the ball?” asks Ted. “In this case Lyon clearly put the ball out intentionally, albeit for a corner instead of the usual throw. You seem to be saying Fernandes was in his rights not to give the ball back because Mikautadze wasn’t actually injured, but asking players to return the ball based on their evaluation of their opponent’s injury sounds like a horrible idea. I’m more wondering if the expectation to return a throw is more palatable than returning a potentially dangerous corner.”
I wasn’t quite suggesting that; I was just trying to give as many hardcore facts as possible before my attention was diverted. You’ve summed it up anyway – the fact it was a corner rather than a throw-in, and came from a desperate rather than measured clearance, created enough space for both teams to clamber atop the moral high ground.
45 min Almada shoots high over the bar.
44 min Ugarte briefly puts a hand on Almada 30 yards from goal and is penalised. Almada is over the ball…
43 min The atmosphere – somewhere between lively and febrile – has made this game feel more exciting than it actually is. Both teams have played some good football but almost all of it has been in the middle third.
41 min “After that Lyon goal,” begins Tim Pearson, “surely it’s game, set and Matic in the Onana debate?”
38 min Lyon kicked the ball behind for a corner so that Mikautadze could receive treatment and are now asking United to give them the ball back. Fernandes declines and takes a corner that is flapped away by Perri.
Mikautadze didn’t need treatment in the end and the only replay we’ve seen suggested he wasn’t fouled by Ugarte.
37 min Mikautadze stays down after a challenge from Ugarte. Man Utd play on to the sound of a Joe Root century and eventually Garnacho has a shot blocked; there would have been mayham had that gone in.
35 min This is becoming a familiar story for Man Utd – some good patters of play in the build-up but no cutting edge. I suppose that’s an improvement on the shambles they were around Christmas time.
33 min Hojlund makes good ground in the inside-right channel before shooting through the legs of a defender and straight at the keeper from the edge of the area. He looks really low on confidence.
31 min The sliding Dalot catches Tagliafico very late and is booked. He put his hand up in apology straight away; it was a wretched tackle. Only a yellow though – he made contact very low on the foot.
31 min “You have to feel for Onana, and hope that he doesn’t get the same kind of hate-driven muck thrown at him that’s all too familiar when black players make mistakes at the highest level,” says Charles Antaki. “Most recover. Some don’t. But none should have to.”
30 min Almada tests Onana again with a low drive from 25 yards. Onana falls to his right to make a comfortable save.
28 min “Re: your earlier post about United fans having problems getting to the ground,” begins Michael Cosgrove, “it’s mainly due to all four of Lyon’s metro lines being shut down because of IT issues (more here in French), and they only began to run again, little by little starting from 6.30pm. Ah, c’est la vie…”
27 min It’s not a rank howler from Onana – it was such a good ball in – but it’s certainly a mistake.
Lyon win a free-kick in the inside-left channel, 25 yards from goal. Almada teases an awkward ball that misses everyone and bounces just in front of Onana, who palms it meekly into the side netting. He saw it late, yes, but having made contact with the ball he should have pushed it round the post.
There’s a VAR check for offside but it’s not going to save Onana – the goal stands.
GOAL! Lyon 1-0 Man Utd (Almada 25)
Andre Onana’s worst nightmare comes true.
24 min The resulting corner is half cleared and then dumped back into the area. Hojlund heads the ball up in the air and Casemiro, 12 yards out, launches into a bicycle kick that goes straight at Perri. He caught it well enough but it needed to be in the corner.
23 min: Just over from Fernandes! Garnacho gets to the byline on the right and screws a fast pullback towards Fernandes 12 yards out. He runs round the ball and belts a first-time drive that takes a crucial deflection off Niakhate and goes just over the bar. That was a beautiful strike.
23 min “My first reaction to Matic’s claim about Onana,” begins Adam Roberts, “was ‘here’s a man who never saw Paddy Roche.’”
Well, he was born in 1988.
22 min Both teams are struggling to get their dangerman on the ball – Rayan Cherki for Lyon, Bruno Fernandes for Man Utd.
20 min Lyon win a couple of corners on the left. The second is headed away as far as Almada on the edge of the D; he spanks a half-volley into orbit.
Big chance for Hojlund!
18 min Dorgu breaks into the area on the left and screws the ball back towards Hojlund, who mishits his shot across goal and wide. That was an excellent chance, although the cutback from Dorgu could have been a bit cleaner – it was bobbling as it reached Hojlund. Even so, an in-form Hojlund would have made proper contact and hit the target.
16 min Lyon are turning up the heat. Mikautadze’s deflected cross is claimed by Onana, then Tolisso’s shot from the edge of the area is blocked by Casemiro. That shot came after some excellent, quick passing from Lyon.
14 min “Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I think the Souness/Aggie beef must be the first time in MBM history that a link has taken your reader to the pages of the ‘esteemed’ Dundee Courier & Advertiser, published by DC Thomson, home of The Beano. It was the last newspaper in the UK to replace adverts on its front page with news, sometime in the 1990s. I’m not saying it’s insular, but when the Titanic sank it was reported with the headline ‘Northeast man lost at sea’.”
Haha. I’d sell my soul for somebody to unearth a bootleg video of that face-off between Graeme Souness and Aggie Moffat.
12 min Mikautadze pulls out to the left, slows down and then accelerates to burn off Dalot. Mazraoui (I think) comes across to knock the ball off Mikautadze and behind for a goalkick. Good defending but a lovely bit of forward play.
10 min Lyon play through the United press for the first time, although they slow it down after that and the United players have time to get back. Eventually a crossfield pass into the area is headed back across goal by Tagliafico and headed behind by Dalot.
8 min There’s been an early goal at Spurs. If you don’t want to know who scored it, do not click this.
7 min A wicked free-kick from Fernandes evades the diving Casemiro at the near post and is sliced not far wide of his own goal by Tolisso. He had to go for the ball but could easily have put it in his own net.
6 min Mata is back on his feet and play resumes. Garnacho is fouled again on the right wing by Akouokou, this time higher up the field. Fernandes will take the free-kick…
4 min The last time these teams met was in the last 16 of the Champions League 17 years ago. Karim Benzema, a 20-year-old wanted by every big team in Europe, hammered Lyon ahead in the home leg. Carlos Tevez scored a late equaliser in France and Cristiano Ronaldo settled the tie at Old Trafford.
3 min There’s another break in play when Mata lands awkwardly after jumping for a high ball with Hojlund. I think he’ll be okay.
2 min “I’ll be following your updates, but I’ve got the Masters on one screen and Bilbao on the other,” says Joe Pearson. “I might have placed a little wager on the Athletic Club to win the tournament. Maybe.”
1 min Garnacho writhes in pain after being fouled from behind by Akouokou. The referee settles for a warning to Akouokou.
1 min Peep peep! Lyon kick off from right to left as we watch.
There’s a belting atmosphere at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, and Andre Onana has been greeted about as warmly as Emi Martinez in Paris last night.
A reminder of the teams
Apparently this is the first time Ruben Amorim has named an unchanged side since joining Man Utd.
Lyon (4-3-3) Perri; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico; Tolisso, Akouokou, Veretout; Cherki, Mikautadze, Almada.
Substitutes: Descamps, Diarra, Lacazette, Abner Vinicius, Kumbedi, Omari, Molebe, Matic, Barisic, De Carvalho, Caleta-Car, Rodriguez.
Man Utd (3-4-2-1) Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro; Dalot, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Heaton, Lindelof, Mount, Zirkzee, Eriksen, Shaw, Mainoo, Amass, Moorhouse, Kamson, Kukanki.
Referee Glenn Nyberg (Sweden).
Ruben Amorim speaks to TNT Sports
[Is this the biggest game since you’ve been at the club?] I don’t see it that way. We have the opportunity in this competition to conquer something from the season and go into the Champions League but at Manchester United every game is important.
[On Rasmus Hojlund] I just wants Rasmus to do his job. He is improving in a lot of things. I know everybody looks at the goals – of course he wants to score but he is doing things quite well and helping the team.
We need to be aggressive. I know the coach really well. They have the physicality and they play really well with the ball. We have to be really aggressive and also smart in every detail of the game. We are ready for that.
It sounds like a number of Man Utd supporters are struggling to make it to the ground in time for kick-off. I’m sure we’ll hear more about that after the game.
Europa League previews and predictions
Lyon will be missing their young wingers Ernest Nuamah and Malick Fofana when they host Manchester United on Thursday, which is a huge blow given their penchant for attacking down the flanks. The good news for Paulo Fonseca is that he will be able to call upon Rayan Cherki and Thiago Almada to carry out the attacking duties either side of Corentin Tolisso, with Georges Mikautadze leading the line.
“So I suppose there is little chance of the classic ‘muted celebration against his old club’ when Nemanja Matic inevitably pops up late in the game to nod home a corner?” sys Justin Kavanagh. “Or, even funnier, to beat Onana with a 25-yard daisy cutter that bounces wickedly over the stooping arms of the worst keeper in United’s modern history?”
As anyone who bought a burger at an English ground in the 1980s will confirm, weird beef has always been a thing in football. But I’ll be real with you, I didn’t see this bit coming.
The players on a yellow card
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Lyon Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Moussa Niakhate, Corentin Tolisso, Alexandre Lacazette.
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Manchester United Casemiro.
Meet Eric Cantona, a man who knows the value of everything and the price of nothing.
Spurs play the 2022 winners Eintracht Frankfurt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Simon Burnton has the team news for that one.
Man Utd fans are reportedly having an exasperating time in Lyon. According to Simon Peach of the Press Association, they’ve been forced to go from the stadium to another location to get a wristband that allows them in to watch the match. Tremendous.
Alan Hudson, the Chelsea maverick of the early 1970s, said football was ‘the working man’s ballet’. In 2025 that last word probably needs a different second syllable.
#MUFC fans facing a ridiculous situation in Lyon. Stadium already miles out of town & they’re being forced to another location by authorities to collect a wristband, before being sent on a bus to the ground https://t.co/H4vFvUAKvO
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) April 10, 2025
The Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca is currently serving a nine-month domestic ban for confronting a referee. Nick Ames spoke to him.
Team news: Man Utd unchanged
Ruben Amorim sticks with the XI that started the goalless draw against Manchester City on Sunday. Kobbie Mainoo is back among the substitutes for United.
There are plenty of familiar names in the Lyon side. Arsenal alumnus Ainsley Maitland-Niles and World Cup-winner Nicolas Tagliafico are the full-backs, former Bayern Munich midfielder Corentin Tolisso is in midfield and Georges Mikautadze – arguably the best No9 at Euro 2024 – is up front.
Lyon (4-3-3) Perri; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico; Tolisso, Akouokou, Veretout; Cherki, Mikautadze, Almada.
Substitutes: Descamps, Diarra, Lacazette, Abner Vinicius, Kumbedi, Omari, Molebe, Matic, Barisic, De Carvalho, Caleta-Car, Rodriguez.
Man Utd (3-4-2-1) Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro; Dalot, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Heaton, Lindelof, Mount, Zirkzee, Eriksen, Shaw, Mainoo, Amass, Moorhouse, Kamson, Kukanki.
Referee Glenn Nyberg (Sweden).
Preamble
This is trash talk at its most compelling.
This is not.
Welcome to live coverage of Lyon v Manchester United in the Europa League quarter-final. The build-up to this match, a European quarter-final between two big clubs, appears to have been reduced to a forensic analysis of Andre Onana’s save percentage.
The spat between Onana and Nemanja Matic, which registered 7.9 on the Souness/Moffat scale of unlikely football rivalries – feels a bit low-rent, even if Matic demonstrated a level of comedic facial disdain last seen when Jimmy Gandolfini was playing Tony Soprano.
Lyon and United are in the odd position of being desperate to win a competition they don’t want to be in. Lyon, who were Champions League semi-finalists as recently as 2020, will hope to return to that competition next season. They are fifth in Ligue 1 but only four points behind Marseille in second.
They can also qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League. This competition is the only chance for United, who have had such a bad season that the fact they are 13th in the Premier League is no longer news. They are starting to improve under Ruben Amorim, particularly in defence.
Lyon, who have scored 29 goals in their last 10 games, will put that improvement to the test.
Kick off 8pm.
The second leg is at Old Trafford a week tonight, with the winners playing either Rangers or Athletic Bilbao in the semi-final.
#Lyon #Manchester #United #Europa #League #quarterfinal #leg #live #Europa #League
