a tighter championship than ever before, Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux and Nice benefit from it

New victory for the Greens Romain Hamouma, decisive passer against Monaco, Sunday, November 3 at Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne. PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP

Bottling at all levels of the French football championship: after 12 days, only nine points separate the second, Angers, last, Nimes, which has a game late. And thanks to their victories, Sunday, November 3, Bordeaux (6e), Saint-Etienne (8)e) and Nice (13e) are all three to four points or less from the podium!

In Geoffroy-Guichard, during the closing match of the weekend, the Greens have stretched their unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions. However, the men of Claude Puel disappointed in the first half against Monaco, before realizing that "As soon as (they) made two-three passes, (they) could reach the goal", as the coach at the half-time plagued. "A lack of confidence" well corrected by Denis Bouanga, author of the only goal of the match (59e). The Saint-Etienne victoriously took over a center delivered from the left wing by Romain Hamouma and deflected by goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte after a ball lost by the Monegasques in midfield.

Shortly after the goal, Hamouma could have raised the score to 2-0 but his header was pushed back by Lecomte (64).e). Overall, the Asse remained very strong defensively with a good organization and a line of five behind.

" It's the reward of a team that is welded, with a defensive balance Explained the evening striker. " The new coach redistributed all the cards, put things flat. We are another team, we are no longer at the beginning of the season, each player is different He added to explain this metamorphosis for a month.

The Asse was red lantern before beating Lyon on October 6 for the inauguration of Claude Puel. Ten points in four games, the account is promising for the Greens, who still come out happy after seeing a red card addressed to their defender Wesley Fofana be finally canceled for a half-hair offside in the second half .

Read also Football: AS Saint-Etienne bets on Claude Puel to start again

Anger of Jardim

For their part, the Monegasques can feed regrets not to have taken at least one point of this trip to Saint-Etienne and not to have taken advantage of their highlights in the first period. Because they had the opportunities to open the brand with a more fluid collective game than their opponent.

From the 2e minute, goalkeeper Stéphane Ruffier pushed Benjamin Heinrichs' shot before diverting a deflected center of Gelson Martins for a corner (35 minutes).e). Adrien Silva (27e), Wissam Ben Yedder (45e) or Keita Baldé, of the head (49e), also addressed attempts, not framed. And Monaco even finished the game at ten after the exclusion of Ruben Aguilar for a foul on Bouanga who went to the goal (90 + 1).

Leonardo Jardim, the Monegasque coach did not digest the scenario of the meeting. "The match was very balanced, I do not understand how it is possible to validate the goal of Saint-Etienne with a gross foul in the middle before. The referee team wanted to give the victory to Saint-Etienne. It is a balanced match, therefore, who gives the victory? He's the referee, of course he pestered at the microphone of Canal Plus.

Read also Ligue 1: Lyon win in extremis, Angers second in the standings

Monaco, who remained on three consecutive victories, had not played a game without scoring since 21 September … Which does not stop, even at 15e place of the standings, to be only four points off the podium.

Nice and Vieira blow

"Click or slap", "The win or the castagne" : the banners in the southern popular stand of the Allianz Riviera were not very friendly to the players Nice at the time of receiving earlier in the afternoon, Reims, top team of table and one of the attractions of this first third of the season.

In one period and following the exclusion of Moussa Doumbia, guilty of applauding the referee after being warned (26e), the doubts Riviera were lifted. Partially only. Because despite his victory, Nice remains a team in obvious lack of confidence. She, at least, knew how to take advantage of her numerical superiority to score two goals thanks to Wylan Cyprien (32e) and Christophe Herelle (41e) and then preserve, without shining, a precious victory (2-0).

Christophe Herelle, Nice striker, against Reims, Sunday, November 3.
Christophe Herelle, Nice striker, against Reims, Sunday, November 3. VALERY HACHE / AFP

The ecstatic joy of the second scorer shows the importance of the moment for the team of Patrick Vieira, who, after the surprise elimination at Le Mans in the week in League Cup (3-2), had announced to have changed their tone with his group.

Nantes stagnates, Bordeaux is getting closer

For its part, FC Nantes chained a third loss in Ligue 1 by losing to Bordeaux in the derby of the Atlantic (2-0).

For this shock, Christian Gourcuff, the coach from Nantes, had renewed eleven almost identical to the one who had fun Wednesday in League Cup against Paris FC (8-0), with Alban Lafont regaining his place in the goal and Mehdi Abeid the midfield, and a very young attack. The Nantais have unsettled more than once their hosts without achieving the last pass. And when they got there, Simon found Costil's post (32e) and Youan the Bordeaux goalkeeper's header on a close shot from close range (44e).

The Bordeaux player Hwang (left) is out of the scoring of Nantes, Sunday, November 3.
The Bordeaux player Hwang (left) is out of the scoring of Nantes, Sunday, November 3. THIBAUD MORITZ / AFP

The evening Bordeaux hero is Korean, his name is Hwang Ui-jo: the striker was first author of a magnificent pass from outside the foot for the purpose of François Kamano (37e), before registering his own goal of a distant shot incoming pole (57e).

Nantes is marking time. His third place is only a decoy. With 19 points, Christian Gourcuff's men are only four points ahead of the 15e place, and seven in front of the red zone.

Read also Ligue 1: the PSG falls back in Dijon

With this victory, the Girondins come back, one point of the podium in this ultra-compact championship. Only Paris SG, despite losing Friday in Dijon (2-1), has the lead in the lead with seven points ahead of Angers. Behind, the pack is tightening, like Marseille, who in a single win ahead of Lille Saturday (2-1), is already up to Nantes on the podium.

Read also Ligue 1: Marseille dominates Lille at home, and raises

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