The info of the evening is that Lyon is leader with three points ahead of Paris and Lille. Lyon lined up a 15th consecutive game without defeat by beating Lens, with their usual three goals scored. OL opened the scoring with Memphis, doubled the bet on a Fortes CSC then drove home a penalty from Memphis following a Leca foul on Cornet. At 3-0, the match seemed folded but, true to their playing identity, the Lensois did not give up and continued to play. Good for them because the Sang et Or reduced the score on two fantastic strikes signed Sotoca and Doucouré. A match in which Paqueta once again shone. Defensive slaughter, very safe technique and sense of the game, the Brazilian is the X factor of this Rhone team which plays well football, does not play in the European Cup and asserts itself, at mid-season, as a real contender for the title.
And if the evening is so good for Garcia’s men, it is also because Lille was surprised at home by Angers. The SCO scored two goals in the first quarter of an hour by Thomas, a superb strike from the left and a nice header from a corner. Stunned after this painful start, Lille took a little time to get their heads out of the water but managed to reduce the mark before the break thanks to a goal from the essential Yilmaz. LOSC then had a full half to come back but Galtier’s men came up against Angevins who, after their victory in Rennes, made a second big blow away from home. On the northerly side, was it a lack of freshness? A beginning of gamberge? In any case, it is a big stop.
At Geoffroy-Guichard, we were waiting for Pochettino’s first match on the Paris bench. So obviously, only three days after his arrival, it is impossible to issue any opinion. The Greens opened the scoring fairly quickly on a ball from the Kehrer-Gueye duo exploited by Bouanga and Hamouma. Three minutes later, Kean served by Verratti equalized and one could think that with his possession of the ball, PSG would manage to make the difference. But that was never the case because, in a very different style, Di Maria and Mbappé were catastrophic. The Argentinian did not exist and the Frenchman has no physique and no power of acceleration. He almost hurts and it’s quite worrying.
And it was the evening of the Olympics because Marseille also won after a very pleasant match against Montpellier. Radonjic recalled the good memories of the club by scoring on an offering from Thauvin but Montpellier equalized on a good cross strike from Mollet. But I find it difficult to understand and even to admit that a player – Delort in this case – offside who lets the ball pass between his legs does not make a play action. A refereeing fact which seemed a time to stop the Olympians, saved at the end of the match by an action and a class strike signed by Payet, who came into play a few minutes earlier, Germain – just out of the bench too – worsening the score in stride to secure the result. Coaching winner for Villas-Boas and end of the bad patch for OM, which finds the Top 5.
Domenech, attacks that disgust me
In the 7 p.m. matches, a very disappointing Rennes team came up against a Nantes defense that did not make any mistakes. We expect much better from a contender for European places than this cutesy performance. After four consecutive victories, we saw the bad face of Rennes again. On the Canaries side, as a nod to his reputation, Domenech found French football with a 0-0. Considering the team he has and the one he was up against, this is quite a good result. Just a note in passing to say how scandalized I was at the many personal attacks – even sarcasm, even from the channel for which he worked – which he has been the subject of since the announcement of his arrival in Nantes. I remind you for all intents and purposes that Raymond Domenech did not kill anyone. Quite frankly, that disgusts me and just for that, I want him to succeed.
Apart from that, Monaco ended up signing a card in Lorient when it did not take the path. After leading twice, the Monegasques were joined twice, before their offensive power added to the rather appalling weakness of Nardi in the goal of the Merlus made the difference. We cannot stay in Ligue 1 with a goalkeeper of this level. And then at Francis Le-Blé, Brest did Brest and Nice did Nice. The Finistériens played well with the ball and scored two goals by Mounié and Honorat. The second being consecutive to yet another defensive gift from the Azureans. Saliba or not, the Nice defense is still as inconsistent. Ah, things are going awfully better without Vieira …
And then in the match of the poorly classified, Strasbourg atomized a team from Nîmes which nevertheless recovered a lot of players but which is incredibly weak. The Gardois conceded five goals but they could have almost taken double, with a penalty saved and a host of saves from Reynet. That says a lot about the poverty of this team. The Alsatians have a relatively favorable schedule and must take advantage of this to collect points and move away from the red zone as quickly as possible. They started their year well by catching the four goals conceded at the Park before the break.
Pierrot
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