As on every day of the championship, I was happy to watch Brest play, especially against Montpellier since these two teams are among the most spectacular in the championship. I was not disappointed with this match, which ended in a spectacular 2-2, with great goals and a lot of chances. The Héraultais generally dominated the meeting but the Bretons showed that they had response, managing to equalize and then take the advantage on set piece. The Laborde-Delort duo was wonderful again, as was this game as a whole. We often say that Ligue 1 is crap so we must not forget to highlight when we attend a good match.
On the other hand, we must recognize that the crap, we had some on certain other grounds. At the Gaston-Gérard stadium for example, with a Dijon-Monaco where the Monegasques were unworthy of their supposed ambitions. They scored a nice goal on a Ben Yedder-Volland one-two but the rest of the time they were outnumbered by the championship red lantern, who should have equalized on a goal unfairly denied for offside. This victory allows Kovac players to stop their downward spiral, but that’s all there is to remember from the Riviera performance.
Bordeaux very logically won 2-0 in Strasbourg against an inconsistent Alsatian formation in all areas of play. This is where we see the perverse effects of closed doors for some teams. La Meinau has been Racing’s strong point since its return to Ligue 1, this season Laurey’s men have not won at home for three months. Opposite, the Bordeaux game is in progress, like Oudin, whom I had not seen at this level for a long time. The first goal comes on a lobed header from Pablo with a big mistake from Kawashima and the second signed Otavio is very nice. Bordeaux, which was practically the worst we did in terms of play at the start of the season, is showing the best. Once again, Gasset shows that he knows how to produce miracles.
Rennes takes off strong
At La Beaujoire, Nantes-Angers was another horrible match for Nantes. The SCO opened the scoring at the end of the first period on a Thomas header. The Canaries stammered their football – if they ever had one – throughout the game before equalizing by Traoré in the last minutes of stoppage time on an extremely lucky counter. It is a point fallen from the sky for Nantes, which should not mask the immense general weakness of this team.
In Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne fell back into his faults and doubts by conceding a rather incredible draw against a team from Nîmes where eleven players were missing! The Foréziens opened the scoring with Moukoudi from a corner, Ahlinvi equalized, Boudebouz missed a penalty, Ripart did not miss his and the Greens ended up equalizing with a nice half-volley from the left signed Nordin. Even if it is a point taken, it remains a stopping blow for Sainté, especially as the team is less handicapped than the past weeks. However, the level of play of the Greens remains very problematic …
And then, as expected, Rennes easily won on the field of a Lorient team which is unable to score a goal as soon as the level rises. The Hakes hardly created any chances in the whole game. It remains one of the weakest teams in Ligue 1 even if I realize while writing this that I could say the same thing about Dijon, Nîmes, Nantes or Strasbourg. Anyway, we know the teams that will fight for maintenance. But Lorient really seems to me in great difficulty.
Paris higher than Lille
The Rennais were not more flamboyant than that but obviously, their individual qualities allowed them to make the difference, with a first goal from Da Silva on a discount from Nzonzi, a second from Bourigeaud at the conclusion of a good action from Doku and a third on a superb coiled strike from Terrier. The Rouge et Noir have therefore won all their matches since the end of the Champions League, I think that should not be seen as a coincidence. A match also bereaved by the accidental death of a gardener, crushed by light therapy equipment installed on the lawn at the end of the meeting.
Finally, the raw information of the evening is that Lille has taken over the lead in the standings in Lyon, on goal difference. But the PSG, which could be found at 4 points of the LOSC, remains at one point. And I think that the Parisian performance, in once again appalling circumstances before and during the meeting, still marked the spirits. We have seen that in terms of maturity and overall technical quality, the Parisians were above. They had many more scoring situations than Lille. Aside from Yilmaz’s strike off target and deflected by Navas and the action of the match with this mind-boggling tackle from Kimpembé when he had slammed ten meters before, the Northerners did not exist on the offensive plan. While their attack has been thrilling since the start of the season.
Obviously, without Neymar and with a Mbappé who did not even play a quarter of an hour, it was difficult to be effective. Kean tried but was unsuccessful and Di Maria, if he showed any better, was still a long way from the great Di Maria. Conversely, Marquinhos, Verratti and Rafinha are all three to be credited with a great game. Paris deplores three new injuries during the match, Kimpembé on the action of his tackle, Kurzawa in an offensive situation and Florenzi on an action where Kehrer tackles Bamba. Nothing new under the sun: this team is physically at their wit’s end and the cut, even if it is short, will do them enormous good. The Parisians will have at least five days of vacation and five days of training. In the end, it was 0-0 but in this match, Paris seemed to me to be much better than a slightly disappointing Lille team.
Pierrot
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