Ligue 1 Review – Gameweek 38 – Final Day

 

All four sides threatened with relegation avoided defeat on the final day, but Caen’s last minute goal proved pivotal as Ligue 1 2016/17 came to an end.

 

Saturday 20 May

Angers 2-0 Montpellier Venue – Stade Jean Bouin

Two late goals at the Stade Jean Bouin saw Angers end their season on a high with a victory over Montpellier.

Jonathan Bamba’s eight minutes from time and Flavien Tait’s effort with two minutes remaining earned the win for the hosts.

Angers finished the campaign in 12^th, while Montpellier will be thankful there were no games remaining after losing five successive matches to finish 15^th.

Guingamp 1-0 Metz Venue – Stade du Roudourou

A narrow win for Guingamp saw them become one of three teams to finish on 50 points for the season as they defeated Metz.

Mustapha Diallo’s goal just before the half-hour mark was enough for the home side to claim the three points.

As a result, Guingamp ended the season in the middle of the table, while Metz’s return to the French top flight ended in 14^th place.

Lille 3-0 Nantes Venue – Stade Pierre-Mauroy

After another disappointing start to the campaign, Lille turned their form around to finish 11^th, beating Nantes who impressively ended the season in 7^th.

Nicolas de Preville was the star man with a hat-trick to see off Les Canaris. There were goals either side of half-time for the Frenchman, before Lucas Lima was dismissed for the visitors after bringing down Eder in the box.

De Preville stepped up to convert the spot-kick and score his third goal of the game; the strike that gave Nantes no hope of a comeback.

Lorient 1-1 Bordeaux Venue – Stade du Moustoir

Lorient knew they needed a win to survive but their relegation was confirmed after being held to a draw with Bordeaux.

The hosts’ game plan soon took a turn when Younousse Sankhare put Bordeaux in front after just seven minutes.

Vincent Le Goff pulled a goal back for Les Merlus in the 69^th-minute, but without a winner their fall to Ligue 2 was looming.

Lyon 3-3 Nice Venue – Stade des Lumieres

A thriller at the Stade des Lumieres saw Nice come from behind on three occasions and score a late penalty to earn a point versus Lyon.

Maxime Le Marchand turned the ball into his own net to gift Lyon the lead, but Anastasios Donis levelled the scores five minutes later. An outstanding finish from Alexandre Lacazette restored Lyon’s control but Donis cancelled out Les Gones’ advantage once more.

Another strike from Lacazette in the 78^th-minute looked like the winner but after Nicolas N’Koulou fouled Bassem Srarfi in the area, Jean Michael Seri rescued a point from the penalty spot.

A great season for Les Aiglons saw them finish 3^rd; 11 points ahead of Lyon in 4^th place.

 

Marseille 1-0 Bastia Venue – Stade Vélodrome

Nothing but a win would guarantee Bastia’s survival on the final day, but they fell short for a final time with defeat at Marseille.

Bafetimbi Gomis capped a fantastic campaign with a goal in the 74^th-minute, giving the visitors too much to do in order to maintain their Ligue 1 status.

Not only were Bastia relegated, they slipped to the bottom of the table. At the other end of the league, Marseille managed to turn their season around with a respectable 5^th place finish.

Nancy 3-1 Saint-Étienne Venue – Stade Marcel Picot

After their relegation was confirmed last week, Nancy signed off from Ligue 1 with a victory over Saint-Étienne.

The home side had a slim lead at half-time thanks to Alexis Busin’s goal and the advantage was doubled by Modou Diagne in the 59^th-minute.

Arnaud Nordin pulled a goal back to give Les Verts hope but such hope soon diminished with Faitout Maouassa’s effort late on.

Nancy overtook Bastia to finish the season in 19^th, while Saint-Étienne’s campaign ended with three straight defeats as they fell to 8^th.

Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Caen Venue – Parc des Princes

A valiant performance and an injury-time goal at the Parc des Princes meant that Caen evaded relegation to the second tier.

Adrien Rabiot’s well-placed goal had given PSG the lead after 13 minutes and after Ronny Rodelin had a penalty saved by Kevin Trapp and Julien Feret had an 87^th-minute wrongly disallowed, it didn’t look like it was going to be Caen’s day.

The visitors’ persistence paid off however, as Rodelin atoned for his earlier error; converting Jonathan Delaplace’s cross to spark delirium amongst the Caen supporters.

A point was enough for Caen as they finished 17^th, while PSG fell to eight points short of Monaco in 2^nd.

Rennes 2-3 Monaco Venue – Roazhon Park

Monaco marked an incredible season with their 30^th win of the campaign at Rennes.

Two goals either side of half-time from Fabinho and Jemerson gave the champions a two-goal advantage, but Adama Diakhaby pulled a goal back from the spot for Rennes after Firmin Ndombe was fouled by Abdou Diallo.

Jorge restored Monaco’s two-goal cushion in the 78^th-minute and Diakhaby scored his second of the game in stoppage time, but it was too late for the hosts to salvage a result.

A dominant season ended with Monaco eight points clear at the top, while Rennes completed the season in 9^th position.

Toulouse 0-0 Dijon Venue – Stadium Municipal

A point was enough for Dijon as other results went in their favour while they were held by Toulouse.

Les Pitchouns were making it difficult for Dijon at the Stadium Municipal, but thanks to Bordeaux and PSG maintaining Lorient and Caen, the visitors’ safety was verified.

Dijon finished 16^th in their return to Ligue 1, while Toulouse’s final league position was 13^th.

 

 

Champions: Monaco.

Relegated: Lorient (18^th), Nancy (19^th) & Bastia (20^th).