Lyon, trapped by Metz, leaves the first place to Paris and Lille

Lyon which gives up its chair of leader to PSG and Lille, Rennes which comes back in contact with the podium, Nantes again hanging on at home and Bordeaux which takes place in Nice: the 20^e day of the French Ligue 1 championship reserved its share of surprises. The meeting between Lorient and Dijon was postponed due to the multiplication of Covid cases among the Merlus.

Double penalty for OL: by suffering a surprise defeat at home against Metz at the end of the 20^e Day, the Lyonnais saw their unbeaten streak come to an end at sixteen games and gave up their chair.

Lyon is now 3^e of the two-point classification of a duo made up of Paris SG and Lille, while Metz, who scored by Aaron Leya Iseka in the 90^e minute, occupies 11^e square. Thrown from deep, Leya Iseka eliminated goalkeeper Anthony Lopes to score in the empty cage, rewarding the good overall performance of Frédéric Antonetti’s team.

However, Lyon obtained very good situations but the attacking trio, rarely well served and which did not combine as usual, was only very rarely in an ideal position. And when they were, Karl Toko Ekambi and Tino Kadewere – Memphis Depay’s accomplices in attack – missed the target.

Toko Ekambi found his way to the net, but his goal was refused for Aouar’s slight offside after video assistance intervened (74^e). At the end of the game, Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja was decisive with a good save on a point blank attempt from Aouar (85^e), which kept his team in the game ahead of Leya Iseka’s winning goal.

It is undoubtedly not their most successful match this season, but Lille provided the essentials by taking the three points against Reims (2-1). Led at the break, before Bamba’s equalizer at the end of the locker room, the Mastiffs have long been held in check against the Rémois who remained in five games without defeat. But on the surface, his Canadian center forward Jonathan David took advantage of a ball released by Rajković to slip his sole in front of the unfortunate goalkeeper and give the victory to Losc in added time. Lille therefore joins Paris-Saint-Germain, winner in Angers (0-1) on Saturday, at the top of Ligue 1.

Nothing is going well in Nice. After their loss conceded at home against Bordeaux, it’s been a month since the Aiglons have not won a league match. Overtaken against Girondins yet deprived of injury to their playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa, the Niçois will have held a period. Before Hwang and Baysse gave the advantage to the Bordelais, then Basic worsened the score at the end of the game (0-3), at the conclusion of a new breakthrough by Traoré on the right wing. Bordeaux continues a second success, its first in Nice for seven years and grabs two places in the standings (8^e), while Nice retrograde to 14^e rang.

Nantes can no longer do it at home. Unable to win a match at La Beaujoire for five meetings, the Canaries could not do better than to share the points again against RC Lens. The first half was all about penalties: a first missed by Kakuta on the Lensois side, a second, transformed by Louza for Nantes shortly before the break. Well in place throughout the game, Raymond Domenech’s men managed their advance, but were surprised by an ambushed Kakuta. The custodian of the game Lensois scored his sixth goal of the season and allows the Sang et Or to keep a beautiful 9^e place in the ranking. Raymond Domenech continues, for his part, a third draw in three games since his appointment on the Nantes bench.

• Strasbourg – Saint-Etienne: 1-0

The young people of Saint-Etienne did not do the feat against Strasbourg. Badly in the league, with a victory in the last sixteen games, the Greens have also come to the Meinau with a workforce decimated by the Covid-19, to the point that the match was almost postponed. Seven of the eleven holders at the kick-off were trained at the club, most of them with very little experience in Ligue 1. And among the few executives present, attacking midfielder Ryad Boudebouz missed a penalty in the first quarter of ‘hour.

Strasbourg did not miss the opportunity to give itself a little air at the bottom of the standings. A goal from Ludovic Ajorque, the eighth of the season, allowed the Alsatians to string together a third consecutive success to take off from the barrage place occupied by Nîmes. Saint-Etienne, however, only four points ahead of the 18^e.

One more step towards the podium. The Breton derby turned to the advantage of Rennes on the lawn of the Stade Brestois. After a lively start to the game, the Rouge et Noir leader Benjamin Bourigeaud first came to respond to Honorat’s early opening score following an overflow (1-1, 7^e). Taking advantage of an error by Romain Faivre in his area at the end of the match, Clément Grenier then offered the victory to his team from the penalty spot. This seventh unbeaten match in the top flight allows Rennes to get ahead of Marseille in the standings and come back up to Monaco (4^e). Loss without consequence for Brest, still 11^e.

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