LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: The West Ham club badge on a corner flag ahead of the Premier League match between West Ham United and Newcastle United at London Stadium on September 12, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
On Friday, Saïd Benrahma scored his first goal in Ligue 1 in over eight years, propelling Lyon to a 2-1 victory.
Saïd Benrahma, who left Uber Eats in 2008, has officially confirmed his comeback to the Ligue 1 league after a stellar Friday performance against FC Metz. Despite becoming a senior international, he failed to make an impression on Les Aiglons’ first team during his lengthy and tortuous career path, which saw him relocate from his native Algeria to Nice.
Nonetheless, he made an impression throughout his subsequent loan stints, eventually attracting Brentford’s attention in 2018. The London-based team was in the Championship at the time, but they were promoted because to their innovative scouting approach, which focused on players from outside of England. In fact, Benrahma was among a plethora of players who crossed the border, including Bryan Mbuemo and defender Julian Jeanvier.
After completing his second season with Brentford with 19 goals and a spot in the Championship team of the year, Benrahma found success in England very quickly. He missed the Bees’ promotion run when he transferred to West Ham at the beginning of the 2020–21 season because he was itching to play in the Premier League.
After impressing in the Hammers’ first two seasons (including an historic Europa League title), he had found playing time hard to come by in the current campaign, as the arrivals of Edson Álvarez and Mohammed Kudus saw Lucas Paquetá shifted out to the left. Not wanting to be stuck on the bench despite his side’s involvement in Europe, and with a measure of revenge to take, Benrahma returned to France as part of Lyon’s ambitious January window, adding veteran attacking nous to a largely young set of forward players.
Speaking to Lyon’s website following his move earlier this month, he reflected on this being a moment for, if not revenge, then certainly redemption. “I have a bitter taste at not having been able to perform in France, I want to prove that I can succeed here. I have been following Ligue 1 since I was little, I watched this league when I was a child, I am keen to succeed here.”
Success has been a little slow in coming — there is competition for places in attack in Lyon as much as there is in London, but he and Ernest Nuamah look to be ideal pieces to dovetail with Alexandre Lacazette in Pierre Sage’s 4-3-3. In addition to his goal and overall quality on the ball, Benrahma worked hard to show his development as a complete player, his maturity and doggedness being an ideal complement to younger players like Nuamah, Malick Fofana and Rayan Cherki.
Indeed, post-match, Benrahma was philosophical about the result, stressing the importance of the result as a team: “This goal will give me confidence, after the goal I already felt much better, I showed more daring and I had more freedom. We have to continue like this, my teammates, the coach and the whole club trust me so I try to give back this to them on the pitch.”
Benrahma and his teammates may do great things with such confidence, especially when the Coupe de France is still in front of tomorrow’s quarterfinal.
