Ligue 1 Review Gameweek 27

 

It was another high scoring week in the French top flight, including home defeats for Lille, Saint-Étienne and Marseille.

 

Friday 24 February

Nantes 3-1 Dijon Venue – Stade de la Beaujoire

The first of two Friday night fixtures saw Nantes earn another big win in the lower half clash with Dijon.

In an eventful encounter, Les Canaris took the lead after just three minutes through Yacine Bammou with a strike into the bottom left corner. Dijon were back on level terms eight minutes before half-time when Nantes’ Leo Dubois steered the ball into his own net.

After a helping hand from the hosts in their equaliser, Dijon returned the favour and gave Nantes an opportunity to retake the lead from the spot. Florent Balmont fouled Dubois in the box, allowing Emiliano Sala to convert the resulting penalty. Felipe Pardo secured the points with the third goal, shortly before Lois Diony was dismissed for the visitors after fouling Diego Carlos.

Dijon dropped into the relegation zone as a result and remain one point from safety, while Nantes moved up to 12^th place.

Nice 2-1 Montpellier Venue – Allianz Riviera

Nice continued to pressure Monaco and PSG with a win against Montpellier earlier in the weekend thanks to a late winner.

It was actually the visitors who took the lead through Steve Mounie in the 9^th-minute. A strike from close range gave La Paillade a surprise lead that lasted nearly an hour.

Title-chasing Nice eventually made the breakthrough when Mickael Le Bihan’s effort from outside the penalty area sailed into the bottom corner. The comeback was complete with five minutes of regulation time left to play and it was Le Bihan once again. The Frenchman was released by Arnaud Souquet before scoring the winner; successfully marking his return following a lengthy spell of injury.

Nice remain 3^rd on goal difference but Montpellier slipped to 13^th after the rest of the weekend’s results.

 

Saturday 25 February

Guingamp 1-2 Monaco Venue – Stade du Roudourou

Monaco’s league form wasn’t affected by the dramatic 5-3 defeat at Manchester City in the Champions League, as they took three points from Guingamp at the Stade du Roudourou.

Most of this game’s action didn’t arrive until the latter stages; however Monaco were a goal up midway through the first half thanks to a Kamil Glik goal following a free-kick.

The league leaders were awarded a penalty four minutes from time when Kylian Mbappe drew a foul from Guingamp’s goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson. Fabinho converted from the spot and Monaco were able to hold on for the win despite conceding a late consolation goal Etienne Didot.

It’s still a three-point lead for Monaco at the top, but Guingamp’s fifth defeat in six games left them 10^th.

Angers 3-0 Bastia Venue – Stade Jean Bouin

A third consecutive victory for Angers saw them make another big step to avoiding relegation as they sit 11^th in the league, but an eighth game without a win means Bastia are now five points from safety in 19^th.

A brace from Karl Toko Ekambi in the 18^th-minute and the 57^th ensured the hosts were in the driving seat for the majority of the match.

When Yannick Cahuzac was given his marching orders for Bastia, it took Angers no more than four minutes to take advantage of the extra man. Thomas Mangani’s delivery was converted by Gregory Bourillon to make sure of the victory and complete another disappointing day for Bastia.

Lille 2-3 Bordeaux Venue – Stade Pierre-Mauroy

Lille’s bad form continues as the home defeat to Bordeaux means Les Dogues have now lost four of their last five outings.

The hosts usually have a defence that is difficult to break down however Bordeaux needed just 16 minutes to do so. Valentin Vada opened the scoring for Les Girondins with a right footed shot from inside the area. That was the only goal of the first half; however the beginning of the second saw a twist in the game.

Bordeaux’s Vukasin Jovanovic conceded a penalty just past the hour and Nicolas de Preville took full advantage from the spot, before Eder turned the game on its head, giving the home side the lead with a goal a minute later. Adam Ounas equalised in the 78^th-minute, before Julian Palmieri was dismissed for Lille two minutes after.

It didn’t take long for Bordeaux to capitalise on Lille’s misfortunes as Ounas scored his second of the game to put his side within reach of a big win. Rio Mavuba was also dismissed for Lille in stoppage time after a second bookable offence, but the game was already gone.

 

Bordeaux moved up to 5^th after rival defeats, whereas Lille dropped to 15^th and are only two points above the drop zone.

Nancy 0-0 Toulouse Venue – Stade Marcel Picot

A goalless draw at the Stade Marcel Picot was more profitable for Toulouse in 9^th, however Nancy’s relegation threat continues as they slip to 16^th in the league standings.

The hosts had the larger share of the ball but they failed to create many goal scoring opportunities for the duration of the match.

Sergey Chernik was called into action more by the visitors, but in a game of few chances a draw was a fair result.

Rennes 1-0 Lorient Venue – Roazhon Park

Lorient’s survival is becoming more and more difficult as the defeat at Rennes made it three successive losses without scoring.

A single goal from Giovanni Sio in the 19^th-minute was all it took to separate the two sides. The Ivorian was picked out by Benjamin Andre before scoring at the near post from the left side.

Rennes’ hopes of European football were strengthened as they moved up to 8^th and closed the gap on their rivals, while Lorient remain six points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table.

 

Sunday 26 February

Saint-Étienne 0-1 Caen Venue – Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

One of the more surprising results of the weekend came at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Following the Europa League defeat to Manchester United, Saint-Étienne were defeated by Caen.

Caen’s winning goal came from Ronny Rodelin just past the half-hour mark. He converted Vincent Bessat’s cross with a header to stun Les Verts.

It was another significant victory for the visitors as there is now a four-point gap from them in 14^th to the bottom three. Saint-Étienne fall below Bordeaux to 6^th and will need to up their game if they want to feature in Europe again next season.

Lyon 5-0 Metz Venue – Stade des Lumieres

Lyon ensured they maintained the gap between them and the chasing pack with a thrashing of Metz on home turf.

Just as though it looked like Metz would be taking a frustrated Lyon into the break on level terms, Memphis Depay opened the scoring for Les Gones in the 43^rd-minute to give them a half-time lead. The Dutchman then added a second goal to his name eight minutes after the restart to kick-start the flow of goals.

The pressure from the hosts persisted but the third didn’t arrive until the 74^th-minute; an own goal from Ivan Balliu. Depay then turned provider to set up Alexandre Lacazette for the fourth, scoring an excellent individual goal with less than a quarter of an hour to play, before Mathieu Valbuena’s effort from range capped a fine Lyon performance in injury time.

Lyon still sit 4^th with a four-point lead and a game in hand over Bordeaux, while Metz are 17^th and a point above the relegation zone.

Marseille 1-5 Paris Saint-Germain Venue – Stade Vélodrome

PSG also hit five as they battered Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome, with the help of some calamitous defending from Les Olympiens.

A well-worked free-kick in the 6^th-minute saw Thiago Silva head the ball back across goal for Marquinhos to head home the opener. Les Parisians scored their second ten minutes later when Edinson Cavani timed his run to perfection to latch onto Javier Pastore’s through ball and dink the ball past Yohann Pele.

Marseille couldn’t keep hold of the ball and went to sleep, allowing Lucas Moura to make a run from the back post to add a third in the 50^th-minute. Julian Draxler scored the fourth just past the hour mark, converting from the centre of the box before a great strike from Rod Fanni ensured Marseille had a consolation.

It didn’t count for much though as a fierce effort from Blaise Matuidi made it five more PSG two minutes later, meaning Unai Emery’s side remain three points behind Monaco, leaving Marseille down in 7^th place.