Vela's perfect ten lights up Lyon's eleven-goal rout

Once, a derby meant blood and thunder, a level playing field and a nervous night. Not here. Not now. On Sunday evening at Stade Balmont, Olympique Lyonnais did what Lyon teams do when the gap is this wide: they played football as if it were a form of philosophy, and poor La Duchère were the text to be annotated.

Eleven goals, 34 shots, 67 per cent of the ball. The scoreboard told a story of domination, but it did not tell the story of Fernando Vela. The Spaniard, asked to play on the right of a midfield four, turned in the kind of performance that earns a perfect ten from those who grade such things. Two goals, two assists, thirteen key passes. He did not so much play the match as conduct it.

Vela's first goal came early, a finish of such casual grace that the Stade Balmont fell silent for a moment, as if even the home fans wanted to applaud. His second, after the break, was a study in timing: a late run, a first-time shot, the ball in the corner before the keeper could move. In between, he set up Julio Barone and Aoula Diarra with passes that dissected a defence already in pieces.

This was not a night for the faint-hearted among the Duchère faithful. Their team managed one shot, one shot on target, and spent the evening chasing shadows. The half-time score was already six, and the second half brought five more, with substitutes Cristian Trelles and Luis adding to the damage. Lyon's bench, it seems, is as deep as the Rhône.

For Vela, the performance was a statement. Criticised in some quarters for being a utility man, a player who fills gaps rather than stamps his authority, he answered with the completeness of his game. He ran 13.4 kilometres, made eight dribbles, and never stopped asking questions. He is the same every week, they say, and this week that meant perfection.

There is a temptation to read too much into a scoreline like this, to say that Lyon are back to their ruthless best and that the cup is theirs to lose. But cup football is a strange beast, and La Duchère were not the measure of this team. The measure will come later, against better opponents in bigger games. For now, though, it is enough to enjoy the beauty of a perfect ten, and to wonder what Vela might do next.