Olympique Lyon v Real Madrid – UEFA Champions League: Second half report (Part 1)
The second half kicked off between Lyon and Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League round of sixteen tie with Madrid on the front foot immediately in the 46th minute of the match as Xabi Alonso tried to play in Emmanuel Adebayor with a perfectly
weighted first time pass.
But Aly Cissokho tucked in from his left back position to clear the ball away as Real gave up the possession of the ball.
In the 48th minute of the match, Angel Di Maria stole the ball off Michel Bastos but the Argentinean winger was brought down immediately by his Brazilian counterpart as the referee awarded Real Madrid a free kick just outside the Lyon penalty
area.
The set piece was taken expertly by Cristiano Ronaldo, who defeated the goalkeeper with his shot, but was denied a sure shot goal by the goalpost.
In the 50th minute of the second half, Real Madrid came forward once again as this time it was Sergio Ramos, who connected brilliantly with a Xabi Alonso corner kick. The Spanish right back’s header thudded off the cross bar as Lyon survived yet
another goal mouth scare.
Real Madrid soon established themselves as the dominant team in the second half. They went onto maintain a monopoly over ball possession as Lyon were forced into a defensive shell by Jose Mourinho’s team.
In the 56th minute of the match, Lyon were awarded a free kick in a crucial area of the field near the Real Madrid penalty area.
However, the delivery by Yohan Gourcuff was a particularly disappointing one as Xabi Alonso cleared the ball away for another Lyon corner kick.
The second corner kick was taken by Gourcuff once again and this time around the ball into the Real Madrid penalty area was a good one but Ricardo Carvalho did well to clear the ball away.
In the 62nd minute of the match, the referee showed the yellow card to Cris as the Lyon defender brought down Cristiano Ronaldo near the edge of the Lyon penalty area. It was a bad foul on the Portuguese winger by the Brazilian centre back thus
a yellow card was merited.
The ensuing set piece was taken by Ronaldo once again but this time the former Manchester United player smacked the ball into a wall of Lyon’s defenders as the ball went out of play for an Olympique Lyon free kick.
In the 63rd minute, Jose Mourinho made the first change of the match for Real Madrid. It was Karim Benzema, who came on in place of Emmanuel Adebayor as the focal point of Real’s attack. It was a fantastic change for Real Madrid as Karim Benzema
immediately made an impact.
In the 65th minute, Mesut Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo combined to a great effect as the latter released Benzema with space inside the Lyon penalty area. The Frenchman made no mistake as he slotted the ball past Hugo Lloris to give Real Madrid a
fragile one goal lead against the French league leaders.