Maxwel Cornet’s strike in Olympique Lyon’s 3-1 Champions League quarter-final win against Manchester City has been awarded as the Goal of the Week.
The Ivorian winger got the ball rolling in Lisbon, with a deftly-executed shot that gave Ederson no chance of catching it after Cornet latched on to Karl Toko Ekambi’s cutback.
Although Kevin de Bruyne equalised for the Citizens, a brace off the bench from the Franco-Malian forward Moussa Dembele late on delivered the most unexpected result.
Cornet’s effort beat Luis Suarez’s goal for Barcelona against Bayern Munich which ended 8-2. Joshua Kimmich’s strike in the same game also featured.
Cornet speaking to uefa.com admitted the oneness of the Lyon squad made it possible for them to upset the Citizens.
⚽️ Maxwel Cornet's controlled finish wins 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 👏👏👏#UCLGOTW | @NissanFootball pic.twitter.com/whNE4Q1uSK
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 17, 2020
“The match could have gone a different way. In [the same] minute, Raheem Sterling missed an open goal and Moussa [Dembele] scored his second, the team’s third,” he said.
“But you also have to make your own luck. We did everything in that match. We played as one. We played until the very end and didn't take our foot off the gas. We were chasing a semi-final.”
Lyon will take on Bayern Munich in Wednesday’s semi-final and Cornet expects the French side to give everything.
“We didn’t expect [them to beat Barcelona 8-2]; we didn’t expect it because it's the great Barca we're talking about here. Their performance against Barca proved that Bayern remain an excellent team and one that mustn't be taken lightly,” Cornet continued.
“We've knocked out some really big teams, the likes of Juventus and Manchester City. That shows we're every bit as good as those teams. We mustn't get carried away, we have to keep our feet on the ground and continue to work hard. The most important thing is to focus on ourselves.”
Lyon have a genuine shot at reaching their first-ever Champions League final and Cornet says the crop of young players in the squad are simply living the dream as it comes.
“As a young player, it’s difficult not to think about it because I took up this profession to experience moments like these and, as the saying goes, you've got to make your dreams come true,” he said.
“That’s exactly what we're doing at the moment with an incredible group of young players who are living this dream. It's fantastic. We're making the most of the moment. We're going to give our all out there again and, of course, we’re still hungry.”