Umtiti seals Lyon's fate as Juve march on
Thursday, April 10, 2014
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Juventus 2-1 Olympique Lyonnais (agg: 3-1)
Samuel Umtiti's own goal removed any doubt about Juve's progression to the last four after Jimmy Briand's equaliser had given OL hope.
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There is only one team now standing between Juventus and their dream of playing in the UEFA Europa League final at their own stadium after the Bianconeri beat Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 to reach the semi-finals with a 3-1 aggregate win.
Andrea Pirlo's early free-kick was cancelled out by a Jimmy Briand header in the 18th minute. After their 1-0 quarter-final home defeat last week, Lyon had chances to turn the tie around but it was Juve who went in front again when Claudio Marchisio's shot took a decisive deflection off defender Samuel Umtiti 22 minutes from time. Tomorrow Antonio Conte's Serie A title holders will discover the name of their last-four opponents.
Carlos Tévez, searching for his first goal in European competition since 2009, went close after three minutes but his strike from the edge of the box flashed narrowly over. The Argentina forward then earned a free-kick in a dangerous position, especially when you have Pirlo in your team. The midfield maestro, whose set piece had taken Juventus past ACF Fiorentina in the last round, curled the ball over the wall and into the bottom right-hand corner with Anthony Lopes only able to watch.
The lead lasted just 14 minutes, however. Following a quickly taken corner from the right, Arnold Mvuemba hooked a lofty cross towards the far post where Briand managed to hold off his marker to beat Buffon with a perfectly placed header which went in off the post.
The goal brought an injection of confidence for Lyon who almost forged ahead with a powerful effort from Maxime Gonalons that forced Gianluigi Buffon into a difficult stop. On the hour mark Tévez seemed to have finally broken his European duck with a nice header but it was ruled offside.
Lyon threatened again with a Mvuemba free-kick that Buffon saved well to his right, so it was left to Juventus to regain the initiative soon after. Marchisio made the difference with an attempt from distance that deflected off Umtiti and sent goalkeeper Lopes the wrong way. Rémi Garde reacted by bringing on Bafétimbi Gomis but his side never managed to bounce back from that blow.
