Before, the “weekend purge” often took place on Sunday at 3 pm. With the new rights, I think this honorary title will pass at 1 p.m. At the same time, when you choose to broadcast Bordeaux, you accumulate the handicaps since the Girondins had gone 0-0 in their first two home games. The third was no exception to the rule. But when we see the performance of Gasset players, how could it be otherwise? And again, they were successful because Nice hit the amounts three times even if, despite this proven bad luck, we did not see much on the Riviera side either. In fact, we saw two teams unable to change the pace, two teams trotting, two teams that do not take risks in the depth, who do not take risks in the dribble, no risks in the pass. Well, when you’re not taking any risks, it makes sense that it ends with a 0-0. But what a sad game …
The 3 p.m. game was more prolific in goals and more enjoyable to watch. Lens would have deserved to win in Nîmes. The Sang et Or opened the scoring once again with Ganago, decidedly the hit of this late summer and early autumn. Well served by Kakuta, the Cameroonian striker scored his fourth goal. The first part of the match was very clearly in favor of the Lensois, who dominated on the subject. And then, courageously, the Gardois came back to the match and equalized at the end of the game by Ferhat. A generally logical draw.
Brest can really bite their fingers after losing to Angers because the Bretons’ first half was remarkable. The Dall’Oglio leg that we had already known in Dijon operates just as well in Finistère with a team which plays one of the most enjoyable games of the championship so far. Brest led twice but was then too fragile behind and Angers, who had the merit of not giving up, managed to win at the end of the match. A very nice match to follow.
The double penalty still exists
Monaco beat Strasbourg more easily than the score suggests. The very good Monegasque first half hour was rewarded by the opening scoring of Ben Yedder, before a little pumping of a quarter of an hour during which Strasbourg finally managed to line up two consecutive passes. But it was at this time that ASM doubled the stake, by Aguilar. The recovery was a bit chaotic, a lack of attention from the Monegasque hinge allowed Chahiri to reduce the score before the two key events of this second act: the second yellow card from Tchouaméni that some will consider severe, but not me. And the direct red card from Disasi for a foul on Ajorque.
So to those who say that the double penalty no longer exists: yes, it still exists, in the event of violence or proven anti-gambling. In this case, it is obvious that Ajorque would score in the empty goal so there was obviously penalty and red. Perhaps Disasi would have been better off letting the Strasbourg striker score rather than leaving his side nine to eleven. Now, despite twenty minutes on a double shorthanded penalty, Kovac’s players weren’t more worried than that.
This Alsatian team is still very worrying. There are too many players who are clearly below their level of last year and we will have to correct that very quickly if Racing wants to avoid having a more than painful season. As for Monaco, despite a lot of setbacks, it is still a team that shows progress. She is young and sometimes lacks concentration, which is normal. But the good news is that Ben Yedder scored twice. If the French international starts to score, it’s a good sign for ASM.
And then the Dijonnais, whom some thought were already dying, had a good match, led twice to score and were joined at the end of the match on a penalty that I personally judge as “very generous”, to be polite. The Burgundians have shown that they are not quite dead yet even if, in their situation, taking only one point at home is not a good operation.
Straw fire and offensive porridge
At 5 p.m., we were treated to a rather pathetic Lorient-Lyon, with Merlus who clearly played 0-0 throughout the match and an OL who chained offensive porridge day after day. This time Depay was on the bench and I don’t understand Garcia’s tactic of continuing to play with three axials when there is only one attacking opposite, namely Grbic who on top of that came out injured quite quickly. There are also misforms in the middle, with for example Guimaraes who is the shadow of the player he was when he arrived in Lyon… It is not possible to create such few chances for 75 minutes when you are playing. ‘call Lyon and you play with a promoted.
Well served by Hamel, Wissa even opened the scoring for Lorient with an overpowering strike under the bar and on an individual feat from Dubois, OL saved a draw which is obviously very insufficient compared to Lyon’s ambitions. I think it is now important for OL that this transfer window ends. Let the players who are going to stay know that they are here for another season and that they are starting to focus on their football. Because this is clearly not the case with Dembélé and Depay. I would be less severe with Aouar, who did what he could in a very poor quality match.
And then in the evening, PSG quietly won in Reims thanks to two doubles: assists for Mbappé and goals for Icardi. The Argentine who put an end to a long period of famine. Now it will be interesting to see what he does in the coming weeks. Is he launched and going to score goals in a burst, which I tend to believe, or will it just be a flash in the pan, as they say in Lyon (ho, ho, ho)? Obviously, as soon as Paris is full, it’s another song. You have to be crass bad faith to imagine otherwise.
What I liked is that Reims did not have the physical pomp that one might fear given the overwhelming domination of the Parisians in the first period and the number of chances they created for themselves. Rajkovic had to pull out some nice saves to keep his side from sinking into a first half that Neymar completed with individual action where he dribbled five players before shooting without an angle just off the post. Neymar who made a great match and a great useful match. Now he should get back to scoring goals. But hey, it is obvious that PSG is starting its slow and inexorable return to the top of the standings. As for Reims, despite the defeat, the Champagne club can capitalize on this match and keep the hope of taking points very quickly.
Pierrot
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