A rout, the red lantern, a disputed coach, boos for Lyon, humiliated (4-1) by an untouchable Paris Saint-Germain, this Sunday, September 3, at Groupama stadium in a match of the 4th day of Ligue 1: the week OL’s nightmare ended with an evening from which we will have to recover. Because the addition could have been much saltier with two shots hitting the bar and many other occasions.
The war between the former president and owner, who has become a minority shareholder, Jean-Michel Aulas and the new boss of the premises, the American John Textor, through press releases, frozen accounts or referral to the courts, has not brought the serenity necessary for the preparation of a match.
It didn’t even take Kylian Mbappé four minutes to open Luis Enrique’s player counter, with a penalty following a foul by Tolisso on Ugarte. Cornered, and despite some good sequences of play, the players of Laurent Blanc then sank in the first period, conceding three additional goals from Hakimi (20th), Asensio (38th), and Mbappé again (45th 2), Tolisso then reducing the score on penalty (74th).
With three defeats and a draw before the international break, the record is catastrophic for OL, last on equal points with Lens and Clermont. Conversely, Luis Enrique’s men rejoin the Monegasque leader (8 points against 10).
Earlier in the afternoon, Clermont, dead last in the championship after three successive defeats, ended their black series by snatching a draw from Toulouse (2-2). As the Violets led 2-0 after a quarter of an hour, the Auvergnats reduced the score from the penalty spot, before equalizing in added time, depriving the “Téfécé” of their first victory at home since the month of FEBRUARY.
“Given the nature of the match, we are very happy to have come back to the score. We could perhaps have hoped for better, because we had control over the match but we are not going to be choosy. We don’t give up and that proves that there is a soul in this team. We have to keep this state of mind and this desire to play. Taking a point in Toulouse is a great performance because they are a great team,” said Clermont coach Pascal Gastien.
Carles Martinez, coach of Toulouse considered this sharing of points insufficient. “We probably slacked off too much after going 2-0 on the quarter hour mark. We would have preferred to have seven points, but we have to settle for five and keep improving to be more consistent.”
The Lorientais, so far very solid with two draws and a victory, have cracked on the lawn of Le Havre (3-0). Kouzyaiev (53rd), Alioui (70th) and Mbemba (90th 6) sealed HAC’s first victory in Ligue 1.
“I think that on a lot of points, this game can serve as a benchmark for us. Even if the score, wide, is not the reflection of a total control, in particular in first half. But from the moment we opened the scoring, the psychological ascendancy and in the game was real. It’s a real satisfaction to approach this first international break with these three points taken in a nice way. We also kept our clean sheet, which is an important parameter. And then we brought out a lot of serenity, maturity, personality, with sometimes admirable phases of play. Which bodes very well,” said Le Havre coach Luka Elsner.
Opposite, disappointment reigned for Régis Le Bris, his Lorient counterpart. “I thought we were a stronger team than that to deal with this kind of event. Today, the opposition offered to us by the HAC is one of the configurations that we should manage better, they are not the simplest, because they require precision and coordination. Then, this defeat is also linked to a succession of events. The first, at half-time, we lost Formose Mendy, and the second is a disagreement between our defenders on the opening of the opposing score. After HAC’s first goal, we were no longer a team, but just a collection of individuals trying to make a difference.”
Lille got scared with a narrow victory against Montpellier (1-0). After a complicated start to the season, marked by a difficult qualification for the group stages of the C4 against the modest Croatians of Rijeka, Lille experienced some scares against Montpellier, despite a quick opener on a powerful free kick from Yusuf Yazici (2nd). Paulo Fonseca’s men multiplied the chances, without managing to bend the meeting. And came close to being punished at the end of the match by Nordin (90th), whose goal was canceled for an offside.
Paulo Fonseca, coach of Lille, preferred to retain the positive side. “I think it was very important to score first. Afterwards we started to have spaces and we have to score more than one goal in the first half. In the second half it was more complicated because we only had 60 hours to recover from the match against Rijeka. Sometimes it’s important to know how to win matches like that. It is important for the mentality of the team and we have demonstrated it. I think Montpellier didn’t create many chances, one or two, because we controlled them.”
“We did not start the match, again,” regrets Michel Der Zakarian, coach of Montpellier. “Thirty seconds into the game: we’re not marking on a touchline, we’re late, we make a foul that generates the goal, we don’t attack the ball well or we let it pass, I don’t know… It’s difficult after to win matches. Especially since technically, in the first half, we weren’t good, we didn’t create play and we made mistakes behind, again. Luckily Benji (Benjamin Lecomte) is still stopping us because otherwise it’s 2 or 3-0 at halftime. In the second half, Lille had a physical drop, they had a few counterattacks but I think we could have equalized on the goal we scored [disallowed for offside].
The meeting will have been spectacular. But no team emerges victorious. After quickly taking the advantage thanks to Sabaly (7th), Metz was surprised by Diakite (17th) then Teuma (52nd). But the Lorrainers drew on their resources to, in turn, come back to score, via Jallow (63rd). A logical draw which rewards the good performance of the two teams.
“We always try to get as much as we can. Today, we have to settle for a draw, ”tempers Laszlo Bölöni, coach of Metz. “Our satisfaction is that the transfer window is over. We know what we have and what we don’t have. You have to put the pieces together. Taking into account the value of the opponent, the squad, I think a draw is good. I think we largely deserved the draw. It was a game of a good level, with high pace, technical exploits and four great goals. I’m happy with these goals for the public.”
Frustration also for Will Still, coach of Reims. “It’s more frustration because we would have liked to win. But, as I told the players, if you can’t win, at least you shouldn’t lose. Any point outside is respected. Collectively we brought in the goals we scored. But you can’t give L1 players so much space at 18 meters. We will work, we will move forward. The basis is not to concede goals, we will work on that. But we’re an interesting team, we have good players but it doesn’t happen overnight.”
With a nice curled shot in the skylight (45th 2) from the right side Youcef Atal then a dive from Terem Moffi (74th), Nice also scored its first success of the season, against Strasbourg (2-0), after three draws in a row.
“This victory is the result of what we have been doing for three weeks and the match against Lille. It’s an important victory, which is good for us and good for our supporters. We are still in a construction phase. You have to gain more fluidity, find the right gesture. It’s part of the process. We are improving. There is a very good evolution in the game. We are also in an exponential progression. I am happy with the result but there are still a lot of things to improve. After last week against Lyon, we received criticism about our game, claiming that it was too slow. It’s the same type of match with more efficiency. But we will continue to want to have control of the game, “analyzed Francesco Farioli, coach of Nice.
For Strasbourg and Patrick Vieira, it’s a very disappointing performance. “We were in big trouble. We were really inside the whole match, on the defensive phases as well as on the offensive phases. We didn’t know how to keep the ball to build, despite our median block. The goal was to strengthen the environment. It’s a game to forget. But we are not going to draw conclusions on this match. We had both of our home matches. Those outside haven’t been good. It’s up to me to find the solutions now to achieve success. Against Nice, we weren’t good collectively. As a result, the players weren’t up to their level.”
