Lyon coach Pierre Sage has excluded Super Eagles striker Gift Orban from the squad that will take on Toulouse at the Stadium Minicipal on Sunday, Soccernet.ng reports.
Orban has had a topsy-turvy time since he joined Lyon in January. During the summer transfer window, it looked like Lyon would part ways with the 22-year-old hitman, but it did not work out.
In the first two games of the Ligue 1 campaign, Orban did not play, fueling talks that he was surplus to requirements at Lyon. However, he finally got his first minutes of action in the third game of the season, and he was impressive, scoring a brace to help Lyon claim a 4-3 win at Strasbourg.
Coach Sage then rewarded him with two stars in the games that followed, but Orban, he failed to score.
Then, when Lyon played Olympiacos in the Europa League last week, Orban was benched for the entire 90 minutes, suggesting that he had lost his place in the starting eleven.
Now, ahead of Lyon’s Ligue 1 against Toulouse on Sunday, Orban has been excluded from the traveling squad. Apparently, Orban’s exclusion is Sage’s decision and not due to any injury.
Lyon have picked just four points from their five games this season. But they will be looking to start picking wins more consistently in the coming weeks.