The New Year's Day clash between Olympique Lyonnais and Clermont Foot at Parc Olympique Lyonnais proved to be a hotly contested match. While it may have seemed like a game of equal strength, the outcome was determined by a single penalty kick for the away team, leading to a 0-1 victory.

It was a closely contested match in terms of attempts on goal, with the home team having 13 shots with just 2 on target and the away team having 13 shots, 3 of which were on target. Olympique Lyonnais, despite a greater number of corner kicks (7 vs 4), couldn't capitalize on these set-piece opportunities, which proved to be a crucial difference.

The only goal of the match came in the 87th minute from a penalty kick by Muhammed Saracevic of Clermont Foot. This was following a home yellow card awarded to Sael Kumbedi of Olympique Lyonnais. Such occurrences can influence a game greatly, and this time, Clermont Foot gained the advantage by converting the penalty into a goal.

However, the home side wasn't the only one incurring penalties, as shown by the higher number of yellow cards to Clermont Foot (3 vs 1). But their most notable card was that of Saracevic, awarded just a minute after his decisive penalty. Such incidences could have had a detrimental impact on the game, leading to potentially game-changing free kicks or penalties.

Despite their aggressive gameplay, indicated by a substantial number of fouls (21 vs 13), Olympique Lyonnais couldn't convert that aggression into goals. This contrasted with Clermont Foot who had fewer fouls and still managed to score the winning goal. Importantly, Olympique Lyonnais had no offsides, indicating either a lack of adventurous forward play or a well disciplined forward line. Conversely, Clermont Foot experienced a single offside, while not ideal, it did illustrate their intent to push forward.

In conclusion, this was a game where the opportunities were there, but the clinical finishing was missing from Olympique Lyonnais. Meanwhile, Clermont Foot made the best of their opportunities, converting a crucial penalty while absorbing pressure. Key to this victory was their ability to defend, avoid red cards and successfully work around their yellow card situation. For Olympique Lyonnais, solving their lack of precision in front of goal needs to be their priority if they wish to secure future victories.

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