He was born in Pusignan, in the Lyon suburbs, on August 17, 2003, barely a year after the first of the seven consecutive titles of champion of France gleaned by Olympique Lyonnais. Sixteen years and five months later, the young Rayan Cherki carried OL on his shoulders to eliminate Nantes (4-3) on Saturday January 18, at the Beaujoire stadium, in the poster for the 16th finals of the Coupe de France .
Two goals, two assists, a penalty obtained – and missed by Moussa Dembélé – is Cherki’s impressive statistical record for his second tenure of the season (six appearances in total). And Olympique Lyonnais really needed it in this clash between two fit teams who wanted to gain confidence before a series of complicated meetings.
The Lyonnais picked their hosts cold and opened the scoring after barely fifty seconds. Served in the box, Dembélé passed the ball back to Cherki, who defeated goalkeeper Alban Lafont (0-1). OL continued to push but first hit the post which returned the shot from Martin Terrier, also served by Dembélé (7th), before Cherki, again, weighed down by sliding between Lafont’s legs a ball offered by Bertrand Traoré (0-2, 9th).
Far from being discouraged, the Nantes have closed ranks, rebalancing the exchanges, and were rewarded for their efforts by a clever head of the Belgian striker Renaud Emond, served by Moses Simon, who thus scored his first goal in yellow since his arrived from Liège ten days ago (1-2, 16th).
The opportunities then multiplied on both sides, such as this shot by Dembélé pushed away from the end of the glove by Lafont (23rd) or that of Mehdi Abeid pushed away in a corner by goalkeeper Anthony Lopes (25th). But Lyon finally got a head start when Cherki, again, served in depth Terrier, launched at full speed almost from the center circle (1-3, 37th).
Kylian Mbappé appreciated
After returning from the locker room, the Lyonnais sought above all to manage their lead, sometimes to the dismay of the 24,000 Nantes supporters. But despite the Canaries’ hints, the real opportunities remained in Lyon. Thus, a grazing strike from Cherki, still him, narrowly missed the frame (60th), then Dembélé missed a penalty obtained by … Cherki following a disagreement in the Nantes defense (67th). Dembélé caught up just after putting in the bottom a ball served by … Cherki (69th, 1-4).
Asked at the end of the match by Eurosport about the surprising maturity he showed, Cherki assured: “I acquired it thanks to my teammates”, before talking about his relationship with Dembélé. “With Moussa, we are like two brothers on the ground”.
Launched in the deep end in October, but used sparingly since, the 16-year-old striker once again showed his coach Rudi Garcia that he was a credible solution in the absence of Memphis Depay and Jeff-Reine Adélaïde, long-term injured. “Rayan Cherki, we know he’s a boy who has the ability to be decisive. Of course I liked it. Of course my role is also to lower the levels because everyone is going to bring it to the skies “, nuanced Rudi Garcia late in the game. “What I liked most was his collective game with the others this evening, the intelligence of his play choices, and his defensive races. If he continues like this, he can continue to progress “, added the Lyonnais coach.
The high-flying performance of the young Lyon phenomenon has not escaped the current wonder of French football. On her Twitter account, Kylian Mbappé – who also started out at 16 with professionals – posted a note in the blink of an eye about Cherki’s precociousness. “You shouldn’t talk to her about age too much”, wrote the PSG striker, resuming a tweet giving the Lyonnais evening statistics.
You shouldn’t talk to her about age too much ?. @rayan_cherki https://t.co/lqZ6ihu600
Nantes energy boost
At the very end of the game, a revival of Nantes energy electrified the stadium, which began to hope after a goal from Imran Louza (2-4, 83rd) then a resumption of Simon pushed back into the goal by Anderson (86th , 3-4). The match ended in a tense atmosphere, with the start of a general fight when the Lyonnais dragged to put the ball in play.
OL will have to build on this success in an attempt to continue its rise in the league, while avoiding overheating since the Lyonnais thus remain involved in the two national cups – with a semi-final of the League Cup on Tuesday against Lille – and will also have to negotiate their Champions League round of 16 against Juventus Turin.
Nantes will have a week before receiving Bordeaux Sunday – a match that will be remembered by striker Emiliano Sala, died a year ago in a plane crash – then to face Rennes and PSG in the following days.
Ligue 1 survives
With the exception of Nantes, of course, all the Ligue 1 teams survived the round of 16 in the Coupe de France on Saturday, but some shook. This is the case of Saint-Etienne, twice led against Paris FC by Jérémy Ménez and Jonathan Pitroipa, both scorers. But the experienced Mathieu Debuchy (77th) finally knocked down the team of René Girard, penultimate in Ligue 2, 3-2.
Winner 2-0, Lille also fulfilled its mission, but quite painfully against a team from Gonfreville (National 3, the 5th division) who played almost at home in Le Havre. In the south, Nice got rid of the Red Star (2-1), current second in National. Led from the 6th minute, Strasbourg got scared of entering Angoulême, 9th in their group in National 2 (4th division). However, the Alsatians managed to restore the hierarchy and impose themselves on an offensive festival without appeal (5-1).
In the lower floors, the only surprise of the day came from Belfort where the residents of National 2 disposed of Nancy (Ligue 2) by three goals to one. On the other hand, the Rhone club of Limonest emerged victorious from the duel between teams of National 3, the equivalent of the 5th division, against Prix les Mézières (1-0).
In the middle of a dream since winning against Niort (Ligue 2) in the previous round, JS Saint-Pierroise has tutored the feat despite a nightmarish start to Epinal (National 2), two divisions above. The “Storks”, nickname of the team playing in Regional 1 (6th division), have indeed lost their striker and captain Jean-Michel Fontaine after only a quarter of an hour, excluded for a dangerous foul. The Reunionese then blocked to overtime, where they cracked in extremis (1-0, 117th).
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