PARIS: Alexandre Lacazette’s goals have papered over Lyon’s defensive frailties and are helping the club’s late push for a European place next season.
That was glaringly evident last Sunday when the striker’s remarkable four-goal performance helped Lyon beat Montpellier 5-4 after trailing 4-1. The whole bench mobbed him after his stoppage-time penalty as he roared to the home crowd.
A great way for Lacazette to break in a new pair of boots.
“They were a lovely present that I received, and I’m going to keep them meticulously clean for the next game,” said Lacazette, who rejoined Lyon in the offseason after five years in the Premier League with Arsenal.
The goals improved Lacazette’s overall tally for Lyon to 157 — second all-time at the club behind Fleury Di Nallo (222) — and further cemented his status as one of the most popular players in club history.
With his lucky boots, Lacazette has another ambition: beating Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé to finish as the French league’s top scorer.
Both have 24 league goals — three more than Lille’s Jonathan David — with four games remaining.
Lacazette is relishing the challenge.
“Yes, because I know that if I score lots more goals it will help the team improve (and) finish in the highest position possible,” the 31-year-old Frenchman said.
Lyon are seventh and trail sixth-place Rennes only on goal difference. Lille are three points ahead in fifth — the Europa Conference League spot.
All three teams play Sunday.
Lyon have a lunchtime game at mid-table Clermont. Among the top eight, only Monaco have conceded more goals than Lyon.
Rennes host 19th-place Troyes and Lille face a hard trip to fourth-place Monaco. Finishing fourth guarantees automatic entry into the Europa League, and a victory for Lille would move them within two points of Monaco.
AU REVOIR, AULAS
Jean-Michel Aulas stood down as president of Lyon on Monday after 36 years in charge.
The 74-year-old Frenchman got the club promoted back to the first division in 1989 after taking a chance on unheralded coach Raymond Domenech, who went on to coach France.
Lyon have been in the top flight ever since, winning seven straight titles from 2002-08 with a team led by the brilliance of Brazil midfielder Juninho and the emerging Karim Benzema.
Aulas built a 60,000-seat stadium, transformed the women’s team into the best in Europe, and strengthened Lyon’s renowned youth academy.
They have produced talents like the Ballon d’Or winner Benzema — now Real Madrid’s second all-time leading scorer with 352 goals — as well as Lacazette, former France forward Sidney Govou and winger Hatem Ben Arfa.
Attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki, who is 19, is touted as a future star.
A self-made businessman, Aulas was prolific in the transfer market. Lyon’s vast scouting network spotted talented players early and sold them on for big profits.
Benzema went to Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-French record transfer of 35 million euros ($38.2 million).
Brazil midfielder Lucas Paquetá cost 20 million ($22 million) and was sent to Premier League club West Ham last summer for 61.6 million euros ($67.5 million).
Bruno Guimarães, another Brazilian midfielder, arrived for the same amount and sold to Premier League Newcastle for 50.1 million euros ($54.9 million) and 20 percent of any future sell-on value.
Govou paid tribute to Aulas.
“You listened, chose, learned, built, won, lost, grew, united, divided, lasted,” Govou wrote on Twitter. “But always with one aim: the best for Lyon.”
While Aulas was widely respected, his habit of speaking his mind — often using Twitter to ping his stinging views directly to others — saw him clash with club presidents and coaches, soccer pundits and former players.
He once had a heated argument in an elevator with former Lens president Gervais Martel over the use of a loan player.
He made up with Martel, sending him a vintage bottle of Martell cognac, but he fell out with Juninho — who scored 100 goals for the club — when Juninho became the club’s sporting director. Juninho stepped down early last year and their rift has not healed.
Ben Arfa bitterly wrote “Soccer won’t miss you, bye” on Instagram along with a photo of Aulas, for which Ben Arfa was severely criticized by former Lyon striker Sonny Anderson.
Lacazette helps Lyon push for European spot as he battles Mbappé for top scorer
https://arab.news/gueeg
Lacazette helps Lyon push for European spot as he battles Mbappé for top scorer
- “They were a lovely present that I received, and I'm going to keep them meticulously clean for the next game,” said Lacazette
- The goals improved Lacazette's overall tally for Lyon to 157 — second all-time at the club behind Fleury Di Nallo (222)
PSG to curb political slogans in wake of ‘Free Palestine’ banner
- PSG promised to “guarantee the absence of political messages” in the stands
- “The club was not aware of the plan to display such a message“
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain say they will make sure there is no repeat of a midweek unfurling by fans of a banner proclaiming “Free Palestine.”
The huge banner covered an entire section of the stadium at the Parc des Princes Wednesday night ahead of PSG’s defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
As well as the slogan “Free Palestine,” the banner showed a bloodstained Palestinian flag, a gesticulating man with a keffiyeh scarf covering all his face except his eyes, the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and a young boy wrapped in the Lebanese flag.
On Friday, after a meeting with the French football federation and government officials, PSG promised to “guarantee the absence of political messages” in the stands.
“A frank and constructive dialogue made it possible to identify solutions that PSG is committed to putting in place from the next match at the Parc des Princes,” a government spokesperson told AFP.
The banner, which was unfurled by the Paris Ultras Collective (CUP) hard-core fan group, was shown above another slogan which read: “War on the pitch but peace in the world.”
“The club was not aware of the plan to display such a message,” PSG said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Slot not surprised by flying start at Liverpool
- Slot appeared to have a tough ask to follow Jurgen Klopp
- The Dutch coach has won 14 and drawn one of his 16 matches in charge
Liverpool: Arne Slot said he is not shocked by a stunning start to life in charge of Liverpool as the Reds have stormed to the top of the Premier League and Champions League.
The Dutch coach has won 14 and drawn one of his 16 matches in charge in all competitions as the holders have also progressed to the League Cup quarter-finals.
Slot appeared to have a tough ask to follow Jurgen Klopp.
But he has built on the solid foundations left by the German after Liverpool finished third in the Premier League behind Manchester City and Arsenal last season.
“Surprise isn’t the right word I’d use because I knew the quality of our team. But quality is one thing, to be consistent is a second thing,” said Slot at his pre-match press conference ahead of hosting Aston Villa on Saturday.
“From the moment I started working with them I saw how much energy they put in on a daily basis and that is I think the reason you can be consistent.”
Liverpool were inspired by the power of the Anfield crowd to come from behind to beat Brighton 2-1 last weekend to move two points ahead of City at the top of the Premier League.
A similar atmosphere helped blow Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen away 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Slot is keen to keep his players’ feet on the ground but is happy for the fans to get excited about the possibility of just a second league title in 35 years.
“If the end result of them being excited is to bring the atmosphere of the second half against Brighton and the whole game against Leverkusen, I am hoping they will keep being excited because that atmosphere helped us a lot,” added the former Feyenoord boss.
Diogo Jota remains sidelined but should return after November’s international break.
Raphinha’s evolution into a more versatile scorer is a big part of Flick’s great start at Barcelona
BARCELONA: Raphinha knew he would have a hard time getting off Barcelona’s bench with the soccer world enthralled by teen phenom Lamine Yamal and the club eyeing to sign another hot prospect in the attack.
Instead of pouting, he evolved.
While the entire Barcelona team improved under new coach Hansi Flick, no player has made such a leap forward this season as Raphinha.
His 12 goals and team-leading 10 assists across all competitions are a big part of why Barcelona is playing its best soccer since the exit of Lionel Messi more than three years ago.
But if one player looked to be on the out when the season started, it was the Brazil forward.
Raphinha seemed destined to become a second-choice right-side winger after 17-year-old Yamal helped Spain win the European Championship in dazzling style. To make matters worse, the club was heavily linked to a possible transfer bid to pry Spain left-side winger Nico Williams away from Athletic Bilbao.
That move never materialized for Williams, but Raphinha was still left with either playing in a new position or being a backup to Yamal.
And when Flick gave him the chance to have a new role, he made the most of it.
Man City seek to end mini-slump as Liverpool soar
- Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have become so accustomed to success that three straight defeats feels like a major crisis
- Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of his final game as interim manager of Manchester United and winless Wolves play fellow strugglers Southampton
LONDON: Injury-hit Manchester City are desperate to snap their losing streak in their final Premier League game before the international break as Chelsea aim to deepen Arsenal’s misery.
Elsewhere in the English top flight, Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of his final game as interim manager of Manchester United and winless Wolves play fellow strugglers Southampton.
Here are some of the key talking points ahead of the action this weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have become so accustomed to success that three straight defeats feels like a major crisis.
Last week City, who face Brighton on Saturday, were ousted from the League Cup by Tottenham.
Their 32-match unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end at Bournemouth before Sporting Lisbon beat them 4-1 in the Champions League — ending another long unbeaten stretch.
Guardiola’s men, gunning for a fifth consecutive Premier League title, are just two points behind league leaders Liverpool but will be wary of losing further ground.
Midfielder Bernardo Silva says the club’s multiple injury worries are not an excuse for their poor form but he admits the international break, which starts after the weekend, comes at a good time.
“At the moment with the injuries that we have and the psychological part as well, it will be good to have that rest, but before that we have a big game again,” he said.
One positive for City in their defeat to Sporting was the return of Kevin De Bruyne, who came on as a late substitute after seven weeks out of action.
If results go against them, Arsenal could find themselves eighth in the Premier League by the time they kick off against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s men have picked up just one point from their past three league games and lost their midweek Champions League clash against Inter Milan 1-0.
Arteta was upbeat despite the defeat at the San Siro, where captain Martin Odegaard made a welcome return to action after being absent since late August.
But defeat against in-form Chelsea plus a win for Liverpool would leave Arsenal, runners-up in each of the past two seasons, 10 points off top spot.
Thierry Henry said on CBS Sports that if Liverpool and City win at the weekend and Arsenal lose, his former side could be out of the title race.
“It would be extremely difficult because you (would) have too many teams to catch... I don’t see two teams collapsing,” he said.
Arne Slot has won 14 of his first 16 games in charge of Liverpool in all competitions.
The club had a relatively kind fixture list at the start of the season but they show no signs of letting up — taking seven points from games against Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton in recent weeks and boasting a perfect record in the Champions League.
Liverpool have also beaten two Premier League teams, West Ham and Brighton, on their way to the League Cup quarter-finals.
Former Feyenoord boss Slot brushed off a question about whether he was finding his new job “easy” after Liverpool’s thumping 4-0 win against German champions Bayer Leverkusen this week.
“Every team that plays against us is in the top of their game,” he said. “And if you want to win that, you always have to be consistent in your intensity, and that’s not always easy but that is what’s needed.”
Liverpool have a tough run of fixtures coming up, starting with Aston Villa at home on Saturday, but so far they have proved they have what it takes.
Fixtures
Saturday (1500 GMT unless stated)
Brentford vs. Bournemouth, Crystal Palace v Fulham, West Ham vs. Everton, Wolves vs. Southampton, Brighton v Manchester City (1730), Liverpool vs. Aston Villa (2000)
Sunday (1400 unless stated)
Manchester Utd vs. Leicester, Nottingham Forest vs. Newcastle, Tottenham vs. Ipswich, Chelsea vss. Arsenal (1630)
Peru arrests the country's football boss as part of a criminal investigation into fraud
- Agustin Lozano is the second Peruvian football boss to be detained since 2018
- Prosecutors said football boss and others tried to wrest lucrative broadcast rights from Peru's first division soccer teams
LIMA, Peru: Peruvian police arrested the head of the country's football federation Thursday as part of an investigation into allegations that he abused his position to extort local clubs into ceding their television rights.
Agustin Lozano is the second Peruvian football boss to be detained since 2018 when his predecessor was investigated for his alleged role in two murders for which he was later absolved.
Lozano was escorted handcuffed into a police vehicle outside his home in the capital, Lima, as several journalists stood by. He promised to clear up any misunderstanding and asked that the public reserve judgements.
Six other people connected to the suspected conspiracy were also arrested.
Prosecutors, in a 140-page court filing seeking Lozano's arrest, said the football boss and others tried to wrest lucrative broadcast rights from Peru's first division soccer teams. Clubs that didn't cede control were threatened with being relegated from the top tier of Peru's soccer clubs, according to the document obtained by The Associated Press.
Lozano is also suspected of illegally spending $1.8 million in federation funds to transport 142 people not associated with the football organization to Doha in 2022 for a playoff match between Peru and Australia to see which side qualified for the World Cup in Qatar that year, according to the court filing.
A prosecutor overseeing the case told local radio that Lozano had been under investigation for over a year. Although he has not been criminally charged, authorities ordered his arrest because they deemed he is a flight risk and could obstruct their investigation.
Lozano has had run-ins with the law before. In 2023, prosecutors sought his arrest as part of an embezzlement investigation from his days as mayor of the northern city of Chongoyape.
Under Lozano's leadership, Peru's national football team is in second to last place among South American men's teams seeking to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
