Author of winning coaching during OL’s victory against Monaco this Friday at the opening of the 16th day of Ligue 1 (0-1), Pierre Sage was smiling when he saw his players happy.
OL is breathing. Red lantern since October 21 and a defeat against Clermont, Lyon temporarily left last place in the ranking after its victory on the Monaco lawn this Friday at the opening of the 16th day (0-1). If, with 13 points, Lyon is temporarily no longer relegated, since 16th and play-off, while waiting for the matches of Lorient (17th) against Strasbourg and Clermont (18th) in Marseille, the Rhone club owes it to the quality of its goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, author of a high-level meeting at Louis II, as well as the inspired coaching of his new coach Pierre Sage, whose last three entrants were involved in the winning goal scored by Jeffinho.
Enough to make the Lyon coach happy, who remains on two victories in a row. “Beyond the three points, it’s the fact of seeing smiles that makes me happy. It’s happened twice in a row. It’s the best fuel. Big cry of joy and suddenly, they all turned 15. They need to free a certain number of things. It’s the opportunity, in communion, to experience a nice moment and to have the will to experience others”, a- he confided to the microphone of Prime Video.
>> Relive Monaco-OL (0-1)
The three-way pass against Nantes?
Despite this positive result, Pierre Sage does not want to get excited with one last match remaining in the calendar year, against Nantes on Wednesday at Groupama Stadium (9 p.m.).
“The truth will lie in the length. Making a shift mid-season and having nothing at the end would be completely useless. We remain focused on our objective. We know that in our journey, it will not be linear and we will also have to to reboost after a negative moment. The match was not easy, we had one or two opportunities. We converted one, I am very happy that the returning players scored, to rally them to the beautiful story they experienced this evening. We’re going to let them enjoy, recover and prepare for Nantes.”
A “unison group” for the maintenance mission
Author of a huge match in his cages, Anthony Lopes also made his contribution in this third success of the season. The Portuguese goalkeeper also praised the reaction of his teammates despite a more delicate second period. “The team’s great spirit allowed us not to concede a goal and to score at the end of the match. We always believed in it, even if the situation was complicated. We feel a group in unison, who move forward hand in hand. We must keep this state of mind with humility. We want to move forward and save the club. We need to take as many points as possible. We try to control what we can control,” said concluded the Lyon goalkeeper.