Lille held in check by Brest, OM save the draw in Bordeaux

Lille and Marseille catch cold, Nantes breathes! The Lille leader skated against Brest (0-0), Sunday February 14 in the French Championship, just like Marseille, reduced to nine in Bordeaux (0-0). As for the Nantes, victorious (3-1) in Angers, they finally regret success with their new coach Antoine Kombouaré.

The good deal of the weekend is, finally, to be put to the credit of Paris-SG (2e), sluggish winner of Nice (2-1) on Saturday, who snatched second place from OL (3e, 52 points). With 54 points on the clock, the Parisian team, the only one among the first seven to have won, fell one length behind the Lille leader.

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Brest is only the second team, in all competitions, not to concede a goal against LOSC in the last twelve months.

The leader of Ligue 1 skated against Brest (0-0) in the 25e day of the French Championship. LOSC preserved their leader’s chair in the championship (with 55 points) but missed the opportunity to outrun several rivals by conceding a draw at home on 12e of the rank. Before hosting Ajax Amsterdam next Thursday in 16es in the first leg of the Europa League, the Mastiffs of Lille seemed short of ideas and failed to crack the solid defense of Brest. They never even really worried their opponent and in particular goalkeeper Sébastien Cibois, with no shot on target in fourteen attempts.

After PSG at the end of December, Brest is only the second team, in all competitions, not to concede a goal against LOSC in the last twelve months.

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Despite 69% possession of the ball and nine corners, Lille lacked precision and speed. However, they had confiscated the ball from the start of the game but struggled to worry about a well-established Brest defense. The Northerners then tried their luck, but neither Jonathan Ikoné nor Luiz Araujo managed to frame.

In the second half, LOSC accelerated, David finding the net. But his goal was refused for a previous hand from José Fonte. The Mastiffs pushed at the end of the match and despite several corners, they were unable to break the Breton lock. Already beaten in the first leg in Finistère (3-2), Lille has found its pet peeve in the league this season.

“We had an incredible opportunity with very favorable results and in this kind of match, you need character, personality. My offensives lacked a healthy aggressiveness in the opponent’s penalty area ”, regretted Christophe Galtier, the northern coach. “We could not exist in the game. We were able to defend well, without making mistakes, so I am rather satisfied with the result even if in the way it was not great”, underlined Olivier Dall’Oglio, the Brest coach.

  • Marseille saves the draw (0-0) in Bordeaux

Unable to win in Bordeaux in Ligue 1 since 1977, Olympique de Marseille has still not broken the curse. At least he avoided losing in a meeting where he played nine against eleven during the last half hour after the direct red cards received by Argentines Leonardo Balerdi (55e) and Dario Benedetto (59e).

The team coached on an interim basis by Nasser Larguet had to show good mental resources not to sink into a numerical inferiority. And the failures of the Bordeaux attackers, such as this attempt by Hwang Ui-jo on the post (58e), helped him a lot.

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However, OM (9e, 34 pts, two games less) is still not advancing in a Ligue 1 where he has not won since the beginning of December, just before receiving Nice next Wednesday in a late match …

  • Monaco held back by Lorient

For Monaco, conversely, a winning streak came to an end: the Monegasque team, which remained on eight consecutive wins in all competitions, was slowed down by Lorient (2-2) after a double from the untenable Terem Moffi (62e).

Monaco at least preserved in extremis its invincibility acquired since the beginning of the year with a saving goal in added time from Ben Yedder, author of a double (90e+3). This saves them an unwelcome disappointment before facing PSG next weekend …

Another contender for Europe, Rennes (5e, 38 pts) went through (2-0) against a team from Saint-Etienne (15e, 29 pts) which confirms its renewal, with goals from Denis Bouanga (27e) and Arnaud Nordin (71e). Same frustration for Metz (7e, 35 pts) who lost the derby 2-1 against Strasbourg (16e, 28 pts) on a double from Adrien Thomasson (33e, 84e). By winning (3-1) against Angers, the Nantes remain barragists (22 pts) but offer themselves a little air in front of Nîmes (19e, 18 pts), who beat the Dijon red lantern (15 pts) in a crucial duel between poorly classified (2-0).

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The World with AFP

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