Ligue 1 roundup: Montpellier and Reims win comfortably while a relegation battle is left in draw
Angers - Auxerre
Needing to improve on the worst home record across the current campaign after accumulating only four points from a possible 33 on offer, Angers got off to the perfect start with less than two minutes on the clock. An unfortunate Rayan Raveloson inadvertently converted Abdallah Sima’s cross beyond the grasp of his own goalkeeper, giving fans of Le SCO a rare moment of joy and leaving Auxerre boss Christophe Pélissier looking visibly concerned on the touchline.
His fears of a defeat to fellow relegation battlers were somewhat allayed soon though, when the game's complexion swung in favour of the visitors in the 22nd minute. Cedric Hountondji clumsily hauled down Matthis Abline, and feeling no ill effects from being dumped onto the Stade Raymond Kopa turf, the on-loan Stade Rennais forward dusted himself down to confidently fire the game’s equalising goal past Paul Bernardoni.
It was a timely leveller, and helped Auxerre settle enough to go in level with their hosts at HT. After suffering a shock elimination from the French Cup at the hands of Ligue 2 outfit Rodez AF in midweek, Auxerre were inches away from turning the match around early in the second half, as Bernardoni sublimely denied Raveloson from redeeming himself for his mishap at the opposite end of the field.
Trying to break the ominous trend that every team across the last four Ligue 1 seasons with fewer than 10 points after the completion of round 22 has been relegated, Angers should have restored their lead in the 64th minute, but Sima failed to direct his close-range header on target. With the match set for an exasperating share of the spoils, Auxerre were handed an opportunity to steal all three points at the death when VAR intervened to deem that Miha Blazic had handled in the area. However, Abline could not take advantage as he cannoned his spot-kick off the crossbar.
Another winless afternoon leaves Auxerre set for an immediate return to the second tier of French football, while Angers sit languishing at the foot of the Ligue 1 standings and looking primed to join them. They are still nine points adrift of safety after failing to register a victory in the league since the middle of September last year, though the sight of them finally moving onto double figures for the season still restores a modicum of pride.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Matthis Abline (AJ Auxerre)
Lille - Strasbourg
Lille enjoyed an excellent start to the game, pushing the ball forward and not allowing Strasbourg to settle defensively. Angel Gomes, Timothy Weah, and Jonathan David all looked lively, and it wasn’t surprising to see the hosts coming close to an opener in the 16th minute when a header from Tiago Djalo was brilliantly parried away by Matz Sels. The visitors couldn’t hold on much longer, however, and Les Dogues broke the deadlock in the 21st minute when David converted a penalty.
The Canada international was quick to double his side’s lead, as he made it 2-0 after pouncing on a rebound from close range. Strasbourg showed signs of life in the final 10 minutes of the half, albeit without mustering a shot on target, underlining Lille’s dominance in the opening 45 minutes.
The hosts didn’t slow down in the second half and nearly added a third goal in the opening seconds, but Gomes was denied by Sels once again. A lack of ideas from the visitors made things easy for Lille, but Les Dogues remained wasteful as David spurned a golden opportunity to complete his hat-trick in the 60th minute, with Sels again displaying impressive reactions. Strasbourg tried to shake things up and made two substitutions, but the alterations didn’t have the intended impact, with a half-chance in the 71st minute from Kevin Gameiro all they could muster.
Strasbourg enjoyed decent spells of possession in the final minutes, but came up short in the final third, allowing Lille to cruise to victory. As a result, Lille climb to fifth place in the standings, while Strasbourg remain in the relegation zone, one point adrift from safety.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jonathan David (LOSC Lille)
Montpellier - Brest
Montpellier eliminated any hopes of a third clean sheet in four league games for Brest, inflicting a disastrous start for the visitors with a quickfire brace. Agonisingly, the Brittany outfit conceded the opener via one of their own, when Christophe Herelle backfired an unfortunate attempt at clearing a cross into his own net. The defender’s afternoon only got worse, as he went on to gift a penalty, which Teji Savanier struck ferociously past Marco Bizot to make it 2-0.
With no side scoring more than the hosts’ 11 goals in the opening 20 minutes this season, the Pirates were at the risk of receiving yet another drubbing following the horrors of the return fixture – Montpellier’s biggest-ever Ligue 1 victory. A third almost came through shortly after, this time from Savanier’s brave long-range attempt that rattled the left post. Having been let off the hook, Eric Roy’s men did surprisingly well thereafter to guard their two-goal deficit until half-time came calling.
However, any hopes of a Brest comeback after the break was quickly put to bed by attacking prodigy Elye Wahi, who struck a clinical low drive into the middle of the goal before the onset of the final half-hour. Lamenting a tenth head-to-head league goal conceded this season, and facing the impending doom of a potential relegation battle, the visitors seemed to play on without any tangible optimism in the final-third and spurned half-chances in the hour of need, with Le MHSC knowing the job was long completed.
The hungry hosts continued to prowl but ultimately had to content themselves with a 3-0 scoreline, which now pushes them five points ahead of the nearest relegation spot. Despite arriving into this round on the back of a five-game undefeated streak in the league, Brest stare at the relegation barrel following a subpar performance - their ninth away head-to-head defeat in 16 visits to Stade de la Mosson.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Teji Savanier (Montpellier HSC)
Reims - Troyes
While Reims applied plenty of early pressure, Troyes had a big opportunity of their own as Lucien Agoumé headed over the crossbar. However, things really aren’t going the way of an ESTAC team that entered the match with just one win from their previous 15 in all competitions, and the ball was in Gauthier Gallon’s net mere moments later. When Junya Ito crossed into the box, Alexis Flips’ mishit shot fell to Marshall Munetsi who finished clinically for his fourth goal of the season, all of which have been openers.
Reims didn’t let up and after Gallon unconvincingly saved Myziane Maolida’s strike, the goalkeeper recovered brilliantly to deny Ito’s follow-up header. Yasser Larouci was stretchered off in the aftermath, though, and things appeared even worse when Yunis Abdelhamid scored from the ensuing corner, but Maolida had handled the ball beforehand. Still, Maolida marked his first competitive start since Hertha BSC’s derby defeat on the opening day of the Bundesliga season with a goal before the break, curling in a wonderful effort from the edge of the box.
Having become the first club in Europe’s top five leagues to concede 50 league goals this season, Troyes were helpless just six minutes after the restart as Folarin Balogun saw off Erik Palmer-Brown to score his 15th Ligue 1 goal of the season and restore the 21-year-old’s status as the league’s standalone top goalscorer. Les Rouges et Blancs’ day was tainted by an injury to Munetsi, although Yehvann Diouf impressively saved Rony Lopes’ free-kick to ensure there weren’t any concerns regarding the scoreline.
After being introduced from the bench, Jens Cajuste rounded off the scoring with a strike that wriggled through Gallon’s clutches, as Reims recovered from their Coupe de France defeat to comfortably take their unbeaten Ligue 1 run into its 15th match, lifting themselves to ninth in the table for now. Meanwhile, Troyes’ third consecutive loss keeps them one place above the relegation zone, and their travelling fans showed their frustrations.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Myziane Maolida (Stade de Reims)