Ligue 1 SRL Round-Up | Lyon, Marseille register wins, Montpellier and Bordeaux share honours and much more
Olympique Marseille cemented their second-place position with a 2-1 victory over Strasbourg while Olympique Lyon edged past Dijon by a solitary goal. Toulouse, Reims registered victories while Bordeaux and Montpellier played out a 1-1 draw, Saint Etienne and Nimes' match recorded no goals.
Toulouse 2 -1 Nimes
The battle of two of the bottom-placed teams got off to a thrilling start. Toulouse, who managed to garner just 14 points this season, prior to this match, took the lead as early as in the 6th minute to put the visitors under serious pressure. Nimes re-grouped after the initial jolt and levelled the scores just five minutes later and set the game up and running once again. The 1-1 scoreline at the halfway point was suggestive of what the first 45 minutes offered.
The thrust from both the teams were equal in the second half as well, but Toulouse had the winners touch as they took the lead in the 58th minute itself. Nimes never recovered from it and they were reduced to 10 men in the 82nd minute which made things worse. Toulouse held on to the lead and logged three points from the fixture.
Amiens 0 - 0 Saint Étienne
Amiens got off to a flashy start, but could not hold to it for long as Saint Etienne had an equal say in terms of possession as far as the first half was concerned. But, as per the stats, Amiens had five shots on target compared to their oppositions’ 1. There was everything to play in the second half.
The second half promised a lively competition, but it was largely dominated by Amiens, even though they found it a herculean task to get the ball past the goalkeeper. The match ended 0-0 which was a disappointing result as far as the hosts are concerned, which managed to register 11 shots on goal and accounted for 66 dangerous attacks, 26 more than the visitors.
Dijon 0 - 1 Olympique Lyon
It was shocking how Olympique Lyon, a team 8 places above Dijon, never managed to call the shots in the entire first half of the game. It was the hosts who came up with five shots at the goal in the first period, with Lyon managing 1 less in the same time frame. Hardly anyone would have thought the scores would remain unhurt during the break.
The second half was quite different, quite normal, with Lyon’s persistent attacks leading to the first goal of the match in the 62nd minute. Even though Lyon did not play an enterprising brand of football after scoring, they managed to hold on to the lead. Dijon’s heroics in the closing stages of the game went in vain as Lyon walked away with three points from the game.
Lille 0 - 1 Reims
It was the match to look out for in the busy weekend but it did not live up to the hype. A lacklustre display from both the teams made no justice to a game that was supposed to be thrilling in nature. Amidst the uneventful forty-five minutes, Reims managed to get one past Lille’s defense to take the lead in the 32nd minute and went into the break with a one-goal cushion.
The story was the same in the second period, as both the teams strived to stitch up threatening moves, making this a rather boring affair. Reims were down to 10 men in the 83rd minute, but they somehow managed to maintain the lead and earn three vital points. Overall, Lille kept 2 shots on target, while Reims managed only one, which they converted to score the winner.
Montpellier 1 -1 Bordeaux
Although Montpellier started on a positive note, the first half did not go according to their plans. The hosts were undoubtedly the better side, having taken six shots on goal, but failed to score. On the flip side, Bordeaux took two shots on goal in the first half, converting one of them to take the lead in the 25th minute. The visitors maintained the one-goal lead going into the break
The mid-break talks were put into instant effect as Montpellier converted from the spot at the hour-mark to level the scores. In spite of a few dangerous attacks from Montpellier, the visitors managed to hold on to the scoreline till the end and squeeze out a vital point in the weekend fixture. Incidentally, both the teams spent 16 seconds per attack on an average while Montpellier took 5 shots at the goal compared to Bordeaux’s 5.
Strasbourg 1 - 2 Olympique Marseille
There was no short of action in this particular game, even though the two sides have had contrasting fortunes in the league so far. Out of the blue, it was Strasbourg who dictated terms in the opening stages of the game and even managed to take the lead in the 14th minute. It was only after dominating for more than 30 minutes that Marseille managed to equalize just before the break.
Even though Marseille scored in the 57th minute of the match, it never looked like a one-sided affair. The hosts played with authority in the final 10 minutes of the game, having raided Marseille’s defense with numerous attacks, but they failed to pierce the net. The away side's defense stood tall and kept the lead to ensure they took back all three points on offer. Marseille accounted for 53 dangerous attacks compared to Strasbourg’s 54 while they each spent 17 seconds each per attack.
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