As predicted, an unpredictable match at Gerland last night between the two Olympiques. Lyon, unbeaten in 10 league games, against Marseille, 11 points from 13 games - should have only been one winner, but of course, it was OM not OL who came out on top. Can't really say it was undeserved either - les Marseillais were lively and well organised, while for a large part of the match the passing of les Lyonnais was too slow and predictable. When they did finally threaten to score in the second half, they came up against a keeper in top form.
It's against the 'big' French teams that the fans at Gerland really get into the mood. Matches against St Etienne, Marseille and PSG usually feature highly organised and coordinated displays in the stands of banners, flags, streamers and improvised confetti. Last night the virage sud unveiled huge banners stretching from the top to the bottom of the lower tier spelling out LYON, with another featuring the OL logo hung from the roof of the top tier. At our end, the virage nord, another display which we obviously couldn't see - as the teams came out a banner was unrolled over the spectators' heads, so from then until just before kick-off all we could see was the underside of the black nylon canvas...
