Ligue 1 Review Gameweek 12

Vital wins for some of the struggling sides and those going for the European spots means a number of Ligue 1 teams are heading in the right direction for achieving their season objectives.

Rennes 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain

The European places may have tightened up but PSG have now established a ten-point lead at the top of Ligue 1, while Rennes drop down to 9^th after their winless run extends to seven. Laurent Blanc chose to rest his best players for the game against Real Madrid on Tuesday so Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani were left out of the starting eleven.

It was a game of very few chances for either team but Benoit Costil still had to be at his best to deny Ezequiel Lavezzi and Lucas Moura. Les Parisians dominated possession and the introduction of Marco Verratti and Thiago Motta made the difference as they were brought on midway through the second half. The winner came from Angel Di Maria with 15 minutes left to play as the Argentine’s volley found the bottom corner from a Lucas cross. PSG keep their unbeaten record intact and it is an encouraging performance given a lack of first team regulars in the starting line-up.

Saint-Étienne 3-0 Reims

Saint-Étienne ensured they weren’t on the end of back-to-back losses for the second time in quick succession as they comfortably beat Reims on home soil. Les Verts were in desperate need of a win after losing three of their last four and Robert Beric gave his side a nudge in the right direction when he opened the scoring in the 63^rd-minute. It took the hosts just five minutes to score again when Reims’ Prince Oniangue was unlucky to put the ball past his own keeper from a Valentin Eysseric free-kick.

The visitors weren’t very convincing in this match and Saint-Étienne sealed the victory in the final ten minutes when Eysseric was excellently played in by Nolan Roux before chipping the ball over Johnny Placide. Reims’ magnificent start to the season is rapidly becoming undone as they slip to 13^th after four successive defeats, whereas Saint-Étienne are 4^th with 22 points alongside Lyon and Angers.

Bastia 1-0 Caen

Home side Bastia have finally won another game and it was needed as a couple of teams below them also won, meaning they have a bit of breathing space for another week at least. They hadn’t scored since September but that miserable run is over as Sadio Diallo scored after half an hour in the game; his free-kick bypassed everyone and found the net without another touch.

Jean-Louis Leca was the hero in this game as the Bastia keeper first kept out Andy Delort before then preventing an own goal; saving Francois Modesto’s blushes to keep the score at 1-0. Florian Raspentino also came close in the latter stages of the game but failed to extend Bastia’s lead. It didn’t matter in the end as the hosts earned the three points to see them in 15^th but Caen have just fallen to 5^th in the league standings.

Gazélec Ajaccio 2-0 Bordeaux

Ironically Gazélec had to wait 11 games for their first Ligue 1 win and now two have come along in as many games. It was quite a surprising result but Bordeaux have been struggling to find form this season and are only 14^th, just five points above Gazélec in 18^th. The hosts will be relying on Mohamed Larbi to stay fit during the season as his brace earned maximum points in this match. He scored his first of the game and second of the season just before half-time when he capitalised on a poor clearance from Bordeaux to fire home from the edge of the box.

It’s been an eventful couple of games for Roderic Filippi who scored at both ends in the game against Nice last weekend and he was sent of in this one for a tackle from behind. This didn’t affect the stride of Gazélec as Larbi popped up once to beat Jaroslav Plasil and Ludovic Sane to make it 2-0 and hand his side the victory.

Guingamp 2-2 Lorient

Guingamp will feel they have been robbed of the three points as they thought they may have won the game late on but were pegged back by an injury time Lorient equaliser. Both sides have been unbeaten in the last few games but it was the hosts who drew first blood with Jimmy Briand’s acrobatic finish giving Guingamp the lead within the first minute. Neither side would finish the first period with 11 men on the field; Majeed Waris was shown a straight red for a reckless challenge while Younousse Sankhare was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

Benjamin Moukandjo won and converted a spot-kick midway through the second half and it looked like Guingamp were going to snatch the win after Yannis Sailbur headed his side ahead with seven minutes remaining. There was late heartbreak for Guingamp however as Moukandjo scored once again with a header in the 93^rd-minute to steal a point for Lorient. The visitors are still looking good in 8^th place in Ligue 1 while Guingamp are sitting mid-table in 11^th.