After five straight victories in the Championship, OGC Nice suffered an unexpected defeat in front of their home crowd, picked up by a goal from Elbasan Rashani (77th). Le Gym can only see the damage to the Allianz Riviera (0-1), where it has already lost against Strasbourg, Metz and Montpellier this season, results unworthy of a candidate for the Champions League. In the standings, Nice remains third with 42 points but misses the opportunity to overtake Marseille (43 pts), winner Friday of Angers (5-2).
But more than the accounting situation, it is Nice’s lack of regularity that poses a problem, six days after having eliminated Paris SG from the Coupe de France on penalties, and three days before receiving OM in this event. , in the quarter-finals. In Ligue 1, the team coached by Christophe Galtier begins to look in the rear view mirror, where Strasbourg, winner of Nantes (1-0), approaches four lengths. Monaco are six units after their victory against Lyon on Saturday (2-0).
Between Alsatians and Monegasques, Stade Rennes (5th, 37 pts) made a name for itself by winning the Breton derby against Brest (2-0). Gaëtan Laborde unlocked the counter in the 20th minute, after a brilliant service from Lovro Majer, in the heart of a first period largely dominated by the men of Bruno Genesio. Martin Terrier finished the job (90th). The Rennais offer themselves a second victory in 2022 and slowly raise their heads, before going to Paris on Friday.
Lorient finally wins
In the depths of the classification, Troyes and Metz drew (0-0) and the Girondins de Bordeaux had a dark day in Champagne, conceding five goals against the Rémois, ruthless for the team of Petkovic, coach more than ever on borrowed time. The Swiss technician had saved his head at the end of January after the victory against Strasbourg (4-3), and winter recruits were to give him new arguments for maintaining.
But Sunday’s rout very seriously complicates the future of the former Switzerland coach, whose team is now 19th (20 pts) with a catastrophic defense, which has conceded 58 goals this season, 14 more than the 19th defense of L1, Saint-Etienne. “I didn’t have any discussions (with the club). At the moment I’m just disappointed and my goal is to prepare for the next game“, evacuated Petkovic, questioned about his future. A little earlier in the afternoon, Lorient signed their first success since September, against Lens (2-0), ending 15 games without a win to get out of the red zone (17th, 20 pts) .
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Coach Christophe Pélissier can be satisfied with real reasons for hope, with the goals scored by a young shooter, Sambou Soumano (21), and by a new recruit, Ibrahima Koné. This success drags Saint-Etienne to last place. The Greens had briefly left their 20th place on Saturday after their promising victory against Montpellier (3-1), but they will end the weekend as a red lantern once again.