Ligue 1 Review Gameweek 4

Last weekend’s Ligue 1 action produced one or two shock results with goals, red cards and missed penalties in a number of the games.

Guingamp 2-0 Marseille

Guingamp earned their first points of the campaign and scored their first goals with a surprise victory over Marseille, lifting them off the bottom of the table. The drama began from the offset as Marseille’s Lassana Diarra fouled Jimmy Briand in the box, handing Guingamp a penalty after just three minutes. Sloan Privat stepped up but a shy attempt allowed Steve Mandanda to make a comfortable save.

The visitors threatened before half-time but failed to break the deadlock as the teams went into the dressing rooms at 0-0. Privat made up for his earlier penalty error after he put his side ahead in the 72^nd-minute following some good work from Briand, and Nicolas Benezet secured the victory with minutes remaining. The win takes Guingamp to 16^th in the table, level on points with Marseille in 15^th as their struggling start continues.

Caen 0-4 Lyon

Lyon pulled off a stylish victory at the Stade Michel d’Ornano thanks to an inspired performance from Nabil Fekir. The Frenchman was in fine form; scoring a hat-trick with well-taken goals in the 18^th, 44^th and 57^th-minutes making him the Ligue 1 top goal scorer. The only positive note for Caen is Anthony Lopes made a string of great saves which reduced Lyon’s goal tally and possibly saved the home side some dignity.

Andy Delort came closest for the hosts with a free kick that rattled the crossbar, but their day was summed up when Damien Da Silva was dismissed for a reckless challenge on Claudio Beauvue in the second half. Lyon’s extra man made the difference as they pushed for more goals, resulting in a fourth being added in the 87^th minute from Beauvue. Fekir turned provider this time, capping an excellent individual display. Caen have dropped down to 9^th in the league standings, whereas Lyon are looking more like the team of last year and climb to 5^th to put the pressure on PSG.

Angers 1-1 Nice

Angers’ unbeaten run goes on with this home draw against Nice. The visitors dominated large parts of the game but it was the hosts who took the lead through a Thomas Mangani goal in the 24^th-minute. Les Aiglons finally took one of their chances in the second half when Valere Germain found himself on the receiving end of a Hatem Ben Arfa free kick to slot home the equaliser.

The home side will be the happier of the two teams as it is a game they could easily have lost, and they are still sitting 4^th in the table after an impressive start to the Ligue 1 season. Nice will feel disappointed they failed to capitalise on their opportunities and beat a newly promoted side, but they are now 11^th and in a decent position to push on for better results after the international break.

Lille 1-0 Gazélec Ajaccio

Lille are also off the mark with their first points and goal of the season, leaving Gazélec in trouble at the bottom of the table. It was a first half goal from Sofiane Boufal that settled the match, and Les Dogues were able to hold on despite some Gazélec pressure throughout the game.

It was far from convincing from Lille and they could have even lost their lead with a few minutes remaining when Pablo Martinez and Gazélec were denied their first goal of the season by the woodwork. The victory takes Lille up to 12^th in the standings but they will need to improve their performances if they want to avoid falling back towards the bottom three.

Reims 4-1 Lorient

Two teams with very different starts to the season came up with the predictable outcome as Reims thrashed Lorient at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Gaetan Charbonnier set the pace for the home side when his cross found a way through everyone in the box to the back of the net, before Lorient’s Didier Bouanga cancelled the goal out with an equaliser in the 48^th-minute.

It didn’t take long for Reims to restore their lead with Nicolas De Preville stealing possession and making it 2-1 just six minutes later. Grejohn Kyei added a third in the 66^th-minute with a cool, curling finish before Atila Turan completed the rout five minutes from time. Theoson Siebatcheu had another positive impact on Reims with the 19-year-old assisting Turan for the fourth. Reims went to the top of the league for a day with PSG playing their game on the Sunday but have now dropped down to 2^nd following Les Parisians’ result.