It was not a great weekend for the Ligue 1 teams pushing for Europe. Lorient, who beat Rennes in a Breton derby on Friday, were the only side in the top seven to pick up three points. The biggest match of the weekend saw two of the top four – Marseille and Monaco – meet at the Stade Vélodrome for a scintillating 1-1 draw that was a tale of two halves.
Monaco went into the game with the second-best away record in the league, after Paris Saint-Germain. With just one defeat on their travels this season – which came in a wild match against a magnificent Lille side – Monaco have quietly edged back into contention for the Champions League, shaking off their bitter Coupe de France elimination to second-tier Rodez and winning three of their four league matches since the World Cup.
Wins over Ajaccio, Brest and Auxerre are hardly going to set the world alight, so this was a big occasion for Monaco as they travelled west along the Mediterranean and tried to narrow the gap to the club five points and one place above them in the table. The Vélodrome is one of the most challenging environments in European football and there was extra spice in the game given what had happened when the sides met earlier in the season, when Marseille equalised in the 83rd minute and then won the game 3-2 with a goal in the eighth minute of injury time.
That match, immediately before the World Cup break, had given Marseille a chance to reposition themselves as contenders for Europe after their uneven start in the league and their gutting exit from the Champions League. After winning six of their first seven matches, the demands of playing in Europe took their toll on Marseille and they won just one of their next six domestic matches. With the team struggling, fans grew frustrated with Igor Tudor’s team.
Fast-forward three months from the defeat to Tottenham that saw them exit the Champions League and Marseille are flying. They had won eight matches in a row before facing Monaco on Saturday. Sure, some of these victories were against clubs further down Ligue 1 or in the Coupe de France. Beating a rickety Montpellier or thumping Toulouse is hardly strong evidence of a team’s quality, but they have been resilient in recent months and that quality was on show again on Saturday.
Monaco, despite dropping Breel Embolo, were tearing the hosts apart in the first half, and, but for some iffy finishing, looked well on their way to improving on their impressive away form. Monaco’s opener – a grotesquely sublime headed own goal from Jordan Veretout from an Aleksandr Golovin free-kick – was a lucky break, but Marseille had offered very little, and it looked like Monaco were going to finish the day just a point shy of their hosts.
View image in fullscreenMarseille fans at the Vélodrome. Photograph: Clement Mahoudeau/AFP/Getty Images
However, Marseille emerged after the half-time break full of energy and equalised quickly through Alexis Sánchez before bombarding Alex Nübel’s goal for the rest of the game. The German was saved by the woodwork; Dimitri Payet scuffed a good chance and Tudor felt his team were denied a certain penalty for a foul on Sead Kolasinac. Marseille dominated the second half to an even greater degree than Monaco had done in the first, showing their superior fitness and attacking thrust, with Mattéo Guendouzi coming off at the interval and Cengiz Ünder playing closer to Sánchez in attack.
The narrative after the match was not about Marseille being lucky to have earned a point after going a goal down to a strong opponent, but of their missed opportunity, after second-place Lens were only able to draw against Troyes. Marseille have now won 11 points from losing positions this season.
Will Still: ‘I’m managing a Ligue 1 club at 30 and could not be happier’Read more
The figure is bettered only by Lorient and shows that, despite seemingly limited resources, the spirit instilled by the manager is one of refusing to quit, and of having a clear tactical plan – something that should stand them in good stead as they continue to chase both a return to the Champions League and a first Coupe de France triumph since 1989.
With the January window not quite shut, rumours about a potential departure for Guendouzi continue to dog the team. But their business to date has been impressive – a welcome riposte to this summer’s loss of Boubacar Kamara on a free. They’ve signed the much sought-after Morocco international Azzedine Ounahi for just €8m and Ruslan Malinovskyi looks a canny replacement for Amine Harit and the ageing Payet. A mooted move for Terem Moffi is yet to come off, but the quality and focus of their recent signings are a credit to Tudor and will only increase the team’s chances of improving even further.
<strong> </strong></p><p>Nice 1-0 Lille\n<br>Auxerre 0-2 Montpellier\n<br>Brest 4-0 Angers\n<br>Clermont 0-0 Nantes\n<br>Strasbourg 1-2 Toulouse\n<br>Ajaccio 0-2 Lyon\n<br>PSG 1-1 Reims\n<br>Troyes 1-1 Lens\n<br>Marseille 1-1 Monaco\n<br>Lorient 2-1 Rennes</p>","credit":""}”>Quick Guide
Ligue 1 results
Show
Nice 1-0 Lille
Auxerre 0-2 Montpellier
Brest 4-0 Angers
Clermont 0-0 Nantes
Strasbourg 1-2 Toulouse
Ajaccio 0-2 Lyon
PSG 1-1 Reims
Troyes 1-1 Lens
Marseille 1-1 Monaco
Lorient 2-1 Rennes
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Talking points
View image in fullscreenFolarin Balogun celebrates with his Reims teammates as they secure a 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes. Photograph: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Marco Verratti returned to action for Paris Saint-Germain against Reims, coming on at half-time. The Italian, whose absence has played a part in the team’s recent dip in form, was on the pitch as Neymar gave the hosts the lead. He was then sent off nine minutes later, forcing PSG to play for more than half an hour with 10 men. Folarin Balogun duly popped up with a late equaliser, earning a point for Reims as they stretched their unbeaten run to 12 matches under Will Still. Christophe Galtier has a more polished résumé but, when it comes to Still, we may be seeing the rise of Ligue 1’s next great manager.
Lyon’s head-spinning week of transfer activity, punctuated by the departures of Karl Toko Ekambi, Tetê and Malo Gusto (with the latter returning on loan), was mercifully put to the side on Sunday with a gritty 2-0 win over Ajaccio in Corsica. This team is still a long way off the European places but, in recent displays from Rayan Cherki, Saël Kumbedi and Bradley Barcola, a clearer identity is beginning to emerge, with these youngsters being given a chance to make an impact, perhaps an acknowledgement that the relatively scattershot approaching to developing the squad needed further examination.
Angers were thumped 4-0 by rivals Brest on Sunday and have equalled the league record for consecutive losses with 12. Relief might come next weekend when they welcome injury-hit Ajaccio to the Raymond Kopa Stadium. If they fail to get anything from that match, their against-the-odds decade-long spell in France’s top flight will surely come to an end.
| 1 | PSG | 20 | 34 | 48 |
| 2 | Lens | 20 | 19 | 45 |
| 3 | Marseille | 20 | 23 | 43 |
| 4 | Monaco | 20 | 16 | 38 |
| 5 | Rennes | 20 | 15 | 37 |
| 6 | Lorient | 20 | 3 | 35 |
| 7 | Lille | 20 | 9 | 34 |
| 8 | Clermont Foot | 20 | -3 | 29 |
| 9 | Lyon | 20 | 7 | 28 |
| 10 | Nice | 20 | 3 | 28 |
| 11 | Reims | 20 | -2 | 26 |
| 12 | Toulouse | 20 | -4 | 26 |
| 13 | Nantes | 20 | -3 | 22 |
| 14 | Montpellier | 20 | -10 | 20 |
| 15 | Troyes | 20 | -10 | 19 |
| 16 | Brest | 20 | -11 | 18 |
| 17 | Strasbourg | 20 | -11 | 15 |
| 18 | AC Ajaccio | 20 | -20 | 15 |
| 19 | Auxerre | 20 | -27 | 13 |
| 20 | Angers | 20 | -28 | 8 |
This is an article from Get French Football News
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