The poster scheduled for Sunday between Lille and Paris was expected: it will have even more flavor in the light of the results of the 15e Ligue 1 day, Wednesday, December 16, which allow PSG, winner of Lorient, to take second place in the standings, on the heels of the Lille leader, striker of Dijon.
Despite the storm behind the scenes, Lille is staying the course. While it could soon change owners, the club has maintained its very good momentum by winning at the Dijon red lantern (2-0). Christophe Galtier, the Lille coach, had decided to field an extremely competitive team despite the series of meetings.
Lille, ultra-domineering from the kick-off, quickly found the opening, after two attempts by Yussuf Yazici and Jonathan David that Anthony Racioppi managed to repel. But the Swiss goalkeeper of the DFCO could not do anything on the crossed strike of the left foot of the Turk, holder in place of his compatriot Burak Yilmaz.
At the very end of the match, Timothy Weah, who entered during the game, took advantage of a poor Dijon clearance to send a powerful strike with the right foot under the bar (90 + 3) and seal the victory of Lille. The shock against PSG on Sunday will be indicative of their ability to play the title, while with 32 points, they are one unit ahead of the Parisians.
“Both teams are tired, there may be more of a superiority on the Parisian side, but in a match, everything is playable”, said coach Christophe Galtier.
By then, the current president Gérard Lopez may have given way to Olivier Létang. The leader is studying the takeover offer received from an investment fund domiciled in Luxembourg, which plans to replace him with the former sports director of PSG.
The bis team of Paris SG did most of it by beating, in numerical superiority, a very weak team from Lorient (2-0). The only success is accounting for PSG, which won after a match riddled with approximations in both camps.
Kylian Mbappé, uninspired offensively and warned from the first period (33e) for a gesture of humor on Andreaw Gravillon, finally unlocked the counter by pushing the same Gravillon to the fault (49e). The defender of Les Merlus, in the position of last defender, was excluded and Mbappé transformed the penalty by shooting well to the left of Paul Nardi (51e). The Parisian striker widens his lead at the top of the scorers standings with eleven goals.
Taking advantage of the numerical superiority, Moise Kean made the difference (60e), taking advantage of a space in the defense of the Bretons on a good pass from Rafinha. But the victory of PSG is mainly due to the weakness of the opponent, now barrage.
Thomas Tuchel, eager to rest his squad four days from the shock against Lille, had chosen to line up a team very largely altered from the one beaten Sunday by Lyon. The result, if not the way, proved him right. The German coach raised the possibility that Neymar, who was hit in the ankle against Lyon, could be restored to face the leader.
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Stops for Lyon and Marseille
A decidedly difficult evening for the Lyonnais. The pre-match against Brest was marked by the tribute paid to the former coach of the Rhone club, Gérard Houllier, who died on Monday at the age of 73. For the warm-up, the OL players wore t-shirts with his effigy. A minute of silence was followed before kick-off as a black armband was worn over jerseys bearing the inscription “Thank you Gérard” : OL did not fail to honor the man who managed between 2005 and 2007 the best team in the history of the club with two league titles. Gérard Houllier returned to the club in 2016 as President Aulas.
And the start of the game was up to the tributes in the offensive play which should have been better rewarded in the finish. But unable to open the scoring, OL were surprised by a shot on the post of Philippoteaux diverted into his own goal by goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
It was the players from the bench – Depay, Paqueta and Cornet – who allowed Lyon to return to the game. Memphis Depay converted a penalty awarded for a fault committed on himself by Duverne (68e) before Maxwell Cornet gives the advantage to the Lyonnais (81e). But at the end of the game the Brestois managed to equalize on a penalty converted by Faivre in the 88e minute, for a foul of Lopes on Mounié.
After five consecutive successes, OL, now third with 30 points, concedes a regrettable draw (2-2) to give up their place of dolphin to PSG, and could fulminate for a long time these two points lost in a very tight race for Europe. .
Fortunately for him, Marseille (4e, 27 points, two matches less) did not take advantage of the windfall, beaten in Rennes (2-1). Despite the opening score of Pape Gueye (24e), the expulsion of the young midfielder (36e) ended up tipping the scales the other way.
Hamari Traoré’s goals (63e) and Adrien Hunou (83e) sealed the first defeat of the Phocéens in the league since September 17. The Bretons (6e, 25 points) remain in contact with the lead wagon.
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Montpellier and Monaco surprised
Monaco sank at home against Lens (3-0), especially during a first period which recalled that he was struggling against the big ones lately. After Lille and Marseille, the Monegasques (8e, 23 points) follow a third consecutive setback which moves them away to seven points from the podium.
Montpellier (5e, 26 points) was surprised, also on his own ground, by the poorly classified Metz (2-0), who had not won for more than a month and a half.
Like the Mosellans, teams in poor shape revolted: Reims, against Nantes (3-2), Strasbourg, in Angers (2-0), and Nice, in Nîmes (2-0) all won.
But it was Saint-Etienne who achieved the biggest blow. After eleven games without a win, the Greens (14e, 16 points) woke up in Bordeaux (2-1) with a cannonball from Yvan Neyou (75e).