Lyon close the gap
There may not be a title race just yet, but Lyon managed to beat league leaders Paris Saint-Germain in an entertaining encounter. Lyon couldn’t have wished for a better start, when Nabil Fekir’s free-kick clipped the inside of Alphonse Areola’s post with perfect precision inside two minutes.
Naturally, there was a response from PSG, with Edinson Cavani coming close and Anthony Lopes forced to make an exceptional reaction save from a header off his own defender Jeremy Morel. Kylian Mbappe had to be replaced in the 35th minute with a head injury after he had clashed with Houssem Aouar and Lopes in two separate incidents.
PSG were already missing Neymar due to muscle problems. They came back into the match when Layvin Kurzawa struck a sublime volley to draw the teams level in the fourth minute of added time at the end of the first period.
They were then reduced to 10 men, when Dani Alves was sent-off. The Brazilian right-back’s late challenge on Tanguy Ndombele was a yellow card offence, but his decision to shout in the face of referee Clement Turpin meant that the punishment was upgraded.
It looked like Lyon had missed an opportunity to make a statement, as they failed to find the same fluency in the second half. However, substitute Memphis Depay hit a fantastic winner in stoppage time.
An phenomenal strike from distance flies into the top corner and wins the game for Lyon.
Only outrageous goals allowed tonight 😳
Monaco beat 10-man Metz
Monaco defeated the in-form Metz, with a 3-1 victory at the Stade Louis II. Jorge’s goal on the stroke of half-time clearly deflated the bottom club, as he latched onto the rebound off Radamel Falcao’s initial effort, which was the home team’s first shot on target in the game.
Not for the first time this season, Leonardo Jardim’s men improved in the second half. Metz goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima received a straight red card for a rash sliding challenge outside of his area on Adama Diakhaby.
Rachid Ghezzal’s curler stretched Monaco’s advantage until Ibrahima Niane temporarily pegged them back with a free header. Rony Lopes ensured a more comfortable scoreline after Fabinho’s clever skill allowed his teammate a simple tap-in.
Thauvin shows Newcastle what could have been
Marseille won the Friday evening match, as they beat Caen 2-0 at the Stade Michel d’Ornano. For the second game in a row, Rudi Garcia’s team struggled in the first half before stepping up a gear after the break.
Dimitri Payet broke the deadlock with a penalty and then Florian Thauvin added a second with an excellent curling effort. The former Newcastle attacker had seen his initial effort blocked, but his persistence ensured he has double figures for the second season running.
“It's true that we seem to be in steamroller mode and that we'll break through sooner or later. Long may it continue,” announced Garcia after the game.
Florian Thauvin just can't stop scoring for Marseille this season...
Nice are beginning to gain options
Nice beat Saint-Etienne 1-0 to extend their unbeaten run in the league to eight games. They have only lost to Lyon in the last three months domestically and they are now level on 34 points with Nantes.
It was midfielder Wylan Cyprien that scored the solitary goal in only his second Ligue 1 start of the season. The Frenchman had missed 245 days due to a cruciate ligament injury which he sustained last March.
Dijon continue to concede goals
Dijon have been heavily criticised following their 8-0 defeat to PSG in midweek and they conceded another three at the hands of Strasbourg. The home side took a 2-0 lead with goals from Jean Eudes Aholou and Kenny Lala, but Julio Tavares pulled one back before half-time.
Oussama Haddadi equalised at the start of the second half and Dijon looked to be heading for a point. However, Lala netted his second penalty of the match in difficult conditions.
“When I was a player, I liked playing on that sort of pitch, it's a bit like MMA, you have to fight a bit…I have seen people fighting in mud, it's a bit like that. Hey, it's good for the skin,” said Strasbourg coach Thierry Laurey.
“We know that we don't travel well, that we're naive, that we lack strength,” added Dijon boss Olivier Dall’Oglio honestly. “We don't have the worst defensive record by chance.”
Honourable mentions
Amiens scored three goals for only the third time this season, as they beat Guingamp 3-1. It was their first win in seven league matches, which appeared to build upon the draw against Montpellier in midweek.
It has been a difficult couple of months for Christophe Pelissier’s men, as they also had a run of five matches without a goal in all competitions. Moussa Konate’s brace against Guingamp was his third strike in a week and sixth in Ligue One since arriving from Sion in the summer.
