Winter freezes the momentum of Paris Sant-Germainand his advance melts like snow in the sun. PSG lost 1-0 against Rennes at the end of the 19th day of Ligue 1, a second defeat suffered fifteen days after that inflicted by Lens, his dolphin returned to three points. Like Blood and Gold, loon also won on Saturday and points its nose at five units of the Parisians.
“The teams behind don’t give up. We mustn’t start losing too many points because otherwise we’re going to be in trouble,” noted Parisian captain Marquinhos on Amazon Prime. The other pursuers enliven a tight race for the European places. AS Monaco, impressive on Sunday against Ajaccio (7-1), and Rennes are only five points from the podium. Ultra-effective against Troyes (5-1), Lille is not far either.
The PSG of Neymar and Lionel Messi is therefore the only leading cador to have lowered its flag this weekend, an anomaly which is a task one month from the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League against Bayern. A veritable pet peeve of Paris in recent seasons, Rennes has won thanks to its captain Hamari Traoré. The entry into play of Kylian Mbappé, returned from his post-World Cup vacation, has not changed anything.
Monaco and Lille shine
The gloom of PSG contrasts with the brilliant health of Monaco, the fourth in the championship which made short work of Ajaccio (18th), led 5-1 after 35 minutes. Two men stood out: Wissam Ben Yedder with a hat-trick and incoming Breel Embolo with a double.
Much further north, Lille also offered an attacking festival to its public, thanks to Mohamed Bayo, holder for the first time since August and author of two goals, like his attacking partner Jonathan David. This first success of the year 2023 in the league takes Lille to sixth place.
“I’m happy because we had changed a lot of players but the team was able to produce the same game and that’s very important,” said coach Paulo Fonseca. However, Les Dogues’ performance was clouded by the injury of Adam Ounas. The Algerian right winger, released on a stretcher and then appeared on crutches, “will not play again for a long time”, according to his coach.
Nightmare in Montpellier
In Montpellier, the weather turned stormy. Four days after the 6-1 rout in Nice, ultras observed a strike of encouragement and unfurled insulting banners, before throwing smoke bombs on the lawn, forcing the referee to interrupt the match for a quarter of an hour.
“The fans are not happy with the results, it is up to them. In this game, I saw a very courageous Montpellier team. The players tried to give their all, but were not rewarded”, commented the trainer Romain Pitau.
The Héraultais wasted several chances and made defensive errors, like Mamadou Sakho guilty of a big miss on the 2-0. They finished the match nine against eleven after the exclusions of Wahbi Khazri (dangerous game) and Elye Wahi (2nd yellow card for simulation). The third consecutive defeat leaves MHSC in 15th place, just two points from the red zone.
Angers dead last
The situation is even worse for Angers, dead last with eight small units on the clock after 19 days. The SCO, unable to win a single point since September, chained against Clermont (2-1) an eleventh defeat in a row in L1. “The second part of the championship is going to be difficult and we will have fewer jokers. But I don’t want doubt to settle in,” tried to positively coach Abdel Bouhazama.
Clermont, on the other hand, sees life in pink with a fine eighth place halfway through. Pascal Gastien’s team are three points ahead of their closest pursuers Lyon, Nice and Reims. The last two named drew 0-0 on Sunday in Champagne. Toulouse and Brest (1-1) also shared the points.
