PSG debacle, Rennes festival and nervous breakdown in Nantes

Ihe ghosts of Madrid reappear. Eleven days after their elimination from the Champions League, Paris-Saint-Germain were corrected in Monaco (3-0). The card of this day is to be put to the credit of Rennes which sinks Metz (6-1). But thanks to their success at home against Nice (2-1), OM are runners-up to PSG.

In the race for European places, Lille took three precious points from Nantes (0-1). Lyon carried out the wrong operation by conceding a draw at Reims (0-0), especially as Lens (3-1 against Clermont) and Montpellier (0-2 at Bordeaux) won.

The Girondins therefore conceded a defeat for the 14th time of the season in L1 when they played in numerical superiority, eleven against nine, throughout the second period. At the bottom of the table, again, Lorient drew with Strasbourg (0-0) just like Saint-Etienne with Troyes (1-1). And Angers stop their bad series against Brest (1-0).

The slap of the weekend

In Paris, “the humiliation and the crisis are already there”, declared Luis Fernandez to the “World” last week. Except that even the “minimum service” hoped for by the former glory of the club is not provided by Paris-Saint-Germain in the domestic championship. PSG failed on the Monegasque Rock and left with a 3-0 defeat in their suitcases, the most severe of their season in L1.

At the origin of each goal, individual errors of the Parisian defense. And it was Monaco, a team struggling in recent weeks, who took advantage with a brace from Wissam Ben Yedder and a goal from Kevin Volland.

“What happened today cannot happen again.assured Parisian coach Mauricio Pochettino at a press conference. This is something serious, which we cannot afford. » In the standings, Paris-Saint-Germain remains largely in the lead and, barring a cataclysm, will not be overtaken by its pursuers. Still, the end of the season will be very long.

The weekend team

It’s starting to become a habit. After the great victory in Lyon last week, Rennes once again seduced against Metz. On Sunday, Rennes crushed Lorraine, 6-1. The Bretons have the best attack in Ligue 1 with 63 goals. Thanks to this success, they climb to third place in the standings (52 points), 1 point behind Marseille and 2 points ahead of Nice, 4th.

Difficult to isolate individualities as the Rennes collective makes such a strong impression. But we can mention the midfielders Benjamin Bourigeaud, Lovro Majer or even Flavien Tait. And in front, excellent against his former club Lyon, Martin Terrier scored twice against Metz. His teammate Serhou Guirassy scored a hat-trick.

The statement of the weekend

“IIs there an American problem in France? »

At the start of this 29th day, Troyes mistreated Saint-Etienne at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium. The promoted led 1-0 until the hour mark and a penalty whistled by the referee after a tackle by Trojan defender Erik Palmer-Brown on Saint-Etienne midfielder Mahdi Camara. In slow motion, the fault seems questionable, but the penalty was confirmed after the intervention of the video referee. And Ryad Boudebouz took charge of converting the penalty, thus putting the two teams on a par. Final score 1-1.

In a press conference, ESTAC coach Bruno Irles sounded out the audience about this turning point in the match. Seeing a hand go up at the reporters in response to his question “Who votes for penalty? »he launched in a bitter tone: “Oh okay, maybe you were friends with those of the VAR”.

The technician continued by relating the hot reaction of the sanctioned player in the area, the American Erik Palmer-Brown. “At the end, he said to me: “there is an American problem (sic) in France? It’s the second time ” “. A reference to another contentious penalty whistled against the native of the city of… Napoleon, Ohio, during the match against Lyon last January.

Action of the weekend

Sotoca’s goal is INCREDIBLE serious 😭 #RCLens #RCLCF63 https://t.co/G8OK1MD2ud

— SNEL_CR (@SNEL)

We prefer to insist on the talent of Florian Sotoca rather than on the error of the Clermont goalkeeper, Ouparine Djoco. Admittedly, the latter showed great excitement by not seeing the Lensois player behind his back. But Sotoca’s composure and skill concluded the action perfectly. Not easy.

The weekend nervous breakdown

Sylvain Armand got carried away by his anger (again). A month after his tussle with the coach of Metz, Frédéric Antonetti, which had earned him two games of suspension imposed by the disciplinary committee of the League, the sports coordinator of LOSC rose in the towers during the meeting between the FC Nantes at his club.

In the 68th minute of the match at the Beaujoire stadium, when the referee expelled Lille’s Timothy Weah, Sylvain Armand came down from his stand to explain his way of thinking to the fourth referee. “I can’t stand injusticehe justified himself after the meeting. I can apologize for getting off, but my reaction no, I don’t regret it. »

Asked about this episode at a press conference, FC Nantes coach Antoine Kombouaré said: “The referee has made a decision. I saw behavior, Lille wanting to leave the field… Sylvain is a nice boy, I had him as a player [au PSG]. But there, the pressure, they can’t bear it guys! They need to calm down. »

By the way, it was Lille who won 1-0 in Nantes and thus carried out a good operation at the top of the table.

The picture of the weekend

😍 The communion of the Lensois public with @Djoninho25 to celebrate his selection in @equipedefrance. #Clauss #RCLCF63… https://t.co/7bNP7P6EP6

— PVSportFR (@Prime Video Sport France)

In Lens, we had two things to celebrate on Saturday evening at the Bollaert stadium: the great victory against Clermont (3-1) and the first selection for the French team of the right side, Jonathan Clauss. Very successful on the right side for two seasons in Ligue 1, the 29-year-old Alsatian has well deserved this communion with the Lensois public. In a position where no one has offered any guarantees in the blue jersey, Jonathan Clauss could be the surprise guest on Didier Deschamps’ list for the next World Cup in Qatar.