Claude Puel's Lyon booked a place in the last four of the Champions League despite losing 1-0 at Bordeaux.
Chamakh's goal counts for nothing as Bordeaux bow out
Lyon booked a place in the last four of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history despite losing 1-0 in the all-French quarter-final second leg against Bordeaux.
Claude Puel's visitors suffered defeat at Stade Chaban-Delmas courtesy of Marouane Chamakh's close-range finish seconds before half-time, but they progressed 3-2 on aggregate to meet Bayern Munich, who saw off Manchester United on away goals.
Lyon took what appeared a comfortable 3-1 first-leg lead into the return match with their Ligue 1 rivals, but they also travelled west with the anxiety of narrow eliminations from the last eight of Europe to Porto, PSV Eindhoven and AC Milan since 2004.
Chamakh's goal only served to increase those nerves, but their hosts could not find the extra strike required as a superb save from Hugo Lloris denied Wendel in the dying minutes.
French champions Bordeaux were missing Fernando and Gregory Sertic due to injury, but reported Arsenal target Chamakh, who scored at Stade Gerland, once again started and captain Alou Diarra returned from a ban.
Lyon's two-goal hero from the first leg, Lisandro, was missing through suspension, as was Sidney Govou, however, defender Jean-Alain Boumsong was fit to feature from the start.
Rhythm
Despite missing the excellent Lisandro, Lyon started with a swagger that had been earned from their two-goal aggregate advantage and they dominated possession and territory in the opening 10 minutes as Michel Bastos went close with a free-kick.
Laurent Blanc's Bordeaux were struggling for rhythm and were failing in their attempts to involve Chamakh, with a three-game losing streak, including a French League Cup final defeat, appearing to impact upon confidence.
Wendel, though, did make highly-rated Lyon and France goalkeeper Lloris think with a free-kick, which the shot-stopper was fortunate to see Yoann Gourcuff head over the crossbar having come flapping off his line.
Gourcuff's chance visibly lifted the self-belief of Blanc's men and Boumsong was required to time a tackle to perfection as Chamakh was about to pull the trigger from six yards.
Lyon were frustrated and Aly Cissokho offered an example as the left-back was booked for a petulant push on Wendel, with Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco only opting for yellow when other match officials may have shown red.
Bordeaux continued to apply pressure as half-time approached and Diarra sent a 30-yard half-volley crashing against Lloris' crossbar just minutes before Blanc saw his side take the lead.
Energetic adventure
On the stroke of the interval, left-back Benoit Tremoulinas went on another energetic adventure and his poked cross was eventually pounced upon by Chamakh, who finished like the poacher Arsene Wenger craves after a slight deflection.
But Bordeaux almost undid their good work immediately after the restart as Bafetimbi Gomis darted past Cedric Carrasso following a rush of blood to the head of the goalkeeper, and the Lyon forward was only denied by an extremely acute angle.
The match continued at a pace, with the home side charging forward at every opportunity, Wendel foolishly shooting when team-mates were well placed, and Lyon aiming to inflict what would be an essentially fatal counter-attacking equaliser.
Bosnia-Herzegovina international Miralem Pjanic came off the bench for Lyon in place of Gomis as Puel aimed to help retain possession in the closing 20 minutes.
Lyon, though, still appeared to lack the energy of their hosts as Maxime Gonalons was shown a yellow card for clipping Gourcuff's ankles and shortly after Jeremy Toulalan followed his team-mate into Mallenco's book.
Bordeaux's cause was not helped when Diarra limped off to be replaced by Matthieu Chalme, while Blanc was unimpressed by Mallenco as he told Chamakh to get to his feet following a clumsy tackle by Lyon skipper Cris inside the 18-yard area.
Bordeaux knew it was not to be their night as central defender Ludovic Sane failed to connect with a glorious headed chance at the back post and Lloris, who had been excellent in the first leg, then enhanced his reputation with a brilliant stop from a Wendel header.
| Bordeaux |
Team Statistics |
Lyon |
| 1 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
10 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 1 |
Corners |
7 |
| 9 |
Fouls |
18 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
5 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 76.7 |
Passing Success |
60.3 |
| 44 |
Tackles |
24 |
| 77.3 |
Tackles Success |
79.2 |
| 66 |
Possession |
34 |
| 46.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
53.1 |
|
