Lyon go down as Tino starts

Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

IT wasn’t the dream show Tino Kadewere had hoped for as he made his first start for Olympique Lyon in the French Ligue 1 on Tuesday night.

The 25-year-old was thrown into the fray ahead of Barcelona target, Memphis Depay, as his club lost 1-2 at Montpellier. 

Kadewere, who fired blanks on the night, revealed after the match that he was disappointed with the result.

He, however, encouraged his teammates to keep working hard to get back on track ahead of their next game against Nimes tomorrow.

“I’m disappointed with this match, it was my first start with the team. We were too relaxed in the way we played, we left too many options for Montpellier.

“We remained united and the substitutes helped us a lot.

“Unfortunately, the opposing goalkeeper had a good game. There are still a lot of games to be played — nothing is decided.

“Our goals do not change after this defeat. OL are a great club and we will continue to work to bring ourselves back into the Champions League.

“We must not drop our heads, we have a match on Friday and we will have to rest well to get the three points.

His coach, Rudi Garcia, said they paid a huge price for playing badly.

“We didn’t play well enough in this game to be able to win. We got off to a good start but faded away as the game went on, the facts of the match taking care of the rest,’’ the Frenchman said.

“I find the two situations we are experiencing very difficult.

“We have fallen into a trap — we know that we must not make mistakes, but that you shouldn’t leave too much space to Montpellier either, they are a very well organised team.

“We woke up at the end of the match but it was too late. Their goalkeeper had a very good game, which is a shame, because we were very good on set pieces.

“The young players did very well in coming on, whether it was Melvin Bard, Rayan Cherki or Jean Lucas.’’

Warriors midfielder, Marvelous Nakamba, showed “serious levels of energy” on his return to the Aston Villa starting XI on Tuesday night.

Nakamba played a pivotal role in the midfield, as Villa came from a goal down to beat League One outfit Burton Albion 3-1, in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

Villa progressed to the third round where they will face the winners out of Bristol City or Northampton tie next week.

The Birmingham Mail gave the Zimbabwean star a rating of 6/10 but one feels he deserved more.

Maybe, it could have been better had he played, with the same authority and intensity, in the first half as he did in the second period.

Once he got going, in the final 45 minutes, he was clearly the best player on the pitch.

“A rare start for “Naka,” anchoring Villa’s midfield in place of Villa’s first choice, Douglas Luiz,’’ noted Ashley Preece, the club’s writer for the Birmingham Mail.

“Showed serious levels of energy, in that deep-lying role, but was caught out on occasion dallying on the ball.’’

Nakamba lost his place, in the Villa first team, towards the end of the season as the Birmingham side battled their way to safety.

However, Villa manager, Dean Smith, threw the Zimbabwean midfielder into the deep end in his team’s first competitive match this season.

Villa were not in action, in the first week of the Premiership campaign, and hosted Manchester United in a friendly, at Villa Park, which they won 1-0.

The Zimbabwean responded in a big way, as he put in a huge shift, breaking the opposition and winning tussles in midfield, which won him plaudits from the wide spectrum of English football followers.

Villa, who reached the final of the tournament last year, got their goals through new signing Ollie Watkins, skipper Jack Grealish and Kienan Davis.

“The objective is to win the game and get through to the next round and we’ve done that,’’ said the Villa manager.

“We had a really good run in the cup last year, getting to the final, and we want to try and do that again.’’

Nakamba’s compatriot, Jordan Zemura, made a brilliant senior team debut for English Championship side Bournemouth.

The Cherries also progressed to the third round of the Carabao Cup courtesy of a thrilling 11-10 shoot-out victory over Premiership team, Crystal Palace.

The match had ended in a goalless draw.

The 20-year-old played the entire 90 minutes and capped a memorable evening for himself when he converted his kick, from the spot, during the tie-breaker.

But, there was no such good news for another Warriors hopeful, Macauley Bonne, whose side Charlton Athletic lost 0-3 to West Ham.

The striker was pulled out at the end of the first half.,

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