Paris Saint-Germain remain top of Ligue 1 going into the international break, thanks to a narrow win over Lyon, while second placed Olympique Marseille slipped up at home to Rennes.
Ending PSG’s undefeated run was always going to be a tall order for Lyon and, in a fifth versus first clash; and a clinical finish from Lionel Messi ended any thoughts of an upset. The Ligue 1 2022 betting odds have backed PSG from the start of the campaign and when the Argentine maestro took a pass from Neymar and fired it into the bottom corner the Lyon crowd fell silent.
That was only on five minutes, and the score didn’t move despite the best efforts of both sides. Messi had another effort blocked, while Fabian Ruiz, Kylian Mbappe and Sergio Ramos all came close for the Parisiens. Former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette headed narrowly wide while the Lyon keeper worked miracles to keep out shots from Messi and Mbappe.
Lacazette and Karl Toko Iambi continued to carry a threat for the hosts and Cotentin Toils’ also came close. This really was an all action game and it was quite amazing that Mess’s early strike wasn’t added to. With 14 shots to 12, and eight to three on target, PSG deserved the win but the game was in the balance until the final whistle.
OM stutter
Olympique Marseille started the weekend level on 19 points with the Parisiens and they had high hopes of putting pressure on the champions with a game at home to Rennes; but a first half own goal from Matteo Guendouzi gave the visitors a half time lead. Former Arsenal and Inter Milan star Alexis Sanchez, who scored a brace in OM’s recent win away Nice, had a great chance to level early in the second period but his shot was blocked. But soon enough Guendouzi had his redemption when he met a superb cross from Jordan Veretout and watched his header sail into the top left corner.
The ever lively Nuno Tavares had a number of good attempts on goal and Sanchez was again denied by the solid Rennes defence as the hosts failed to break through again. OM moved on to 20 points while Rennes climbed to eighth position on 12 points.
Lorient is the surprise package in the league, a 3-1 win away to Auxerre on Friday taking them up to third place in the league table. They had the game done and dusted in the first half as goals from Dango Ouatarra, Terem Moffi and Enzo Le Fee sent them into the break three goals to the good. Auxerre pulled one back through Gauthier Hein but Lorient held on comfortably to see the game out and move on to an impressive 19 points from eight games.
In other Ligue 1 2022 results this weekend Monaco won 3-0 away to Rheims and 2021 champions Lille triumphed 2-1 at home to Toulouse.
Poor week for French teams in Europe
After going behind early in their game away to Maccabi Haifa, PSG roared back to win 3-1 as the tense trio of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar all scored. That made it back to back wins for PSG who beat Juventus in their opening fixture, but they were the only French side to pick up a win in the second round of games.
Olympique Marseille are in a Champions League group alongside Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting Lisbon and Eintracht Frankfurt which doesn’t look too daunting, and a packed crowd made the Stade Velodrome a white hot cauldron of noise on Wednesday; but they could only watch their team lose 1-0 to Frankfurt. And that after losing their opener to Spurs means OM have a huge uphill battle ahead of them.
In the Europa League Monaco lost 1-0 at home to Ferencvaros this week, while Nantes took a 3-0 hammering away to Qarabag. Meanwhile Rennes picked up a point in a 2-2 draw at home to Fenerbahce, and that after they had all won their opening fixtures 2-1. In the fist week Monaco won away to Red Star Belgrade and Nantes beat Olimpiacos while Rennes took all three points from a visit to AEK Larnaca.
Nice are participating in the Europa Conference League and they have started with two 1-1 draws, away to Partizan Belgrade and at home to Cologne.
What’s next?
Here at SBOTOP we’ll be keeping a close watch on all things French football and, after the international break, Olympique Marseille open the next round of Ligue 1 fixtures with a trip to Angers on Friday 30th September. Meanwhile Paris Saint Germain has a mouth-watering clash at home to Nice which they will enter into as league leaders.
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