Lyon share stalemate with Ajax
442 Staff - Wednesday 14 September 2011, 22:19
AMSTERDAM - Bafetimbi Gomis missed two
gilt-edged chances for Olympique Lyon as the French team shared
a 0-0 draw with Ajax Amsterdam in their Champions League Group D
opener on Wednesday.
A cross from Michel Bastos bounced off Gomis's foot and went
over the bar and the Lyon striker also missed the target after
being set up by Jimmy Briand.
Unmarked winger Miralem Sulejmani came closest to scoring
for Ajax eight minutes before the interval, his header going
wide when he only had goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to beat.
Lloris denied Ajax in the second half with a breathtaking
save thwarting a long-range effort from playmaker Christian
Eriksen.
"We are satisfied with a point," Ajax coach Frank de Boer
told reporters. "Both teams had their chances but the way Lyon
switched from defence to attack was very efficient.
"We have to realise that we need more patience and need to
make the right choices on the ball."
Lyon coach Remi Garde also seemed relatively pleased to
start the competition with a point.
"I did not expect a clean sheet today as this is a higher
level of football than the French league," Garde said.
"But we stayed concentrated and never forgot our tactical
plan. The only thing we occasionally lacked was aggression."