To see the satisfaction of FC Metz players at the final whistle on Sunday, November 7, we can see the importance of this result after thirteen days of Ligue 1. Catchy, the Messins played a large part of the second period outnumbered against a Marseille team lacking energy, seventy-two hours after the draw (2-2) obtained against Lazio Rome in the Europa League.
Frédéric Antonetti’s men remained in seventeen Ligue 1 games by conceding at least one goal. The series therefore ended at the Vélodrome. Offensive but ineffective after the red card inflicted on Jemerson, OM remains fourth in the standings with 23 points, while Metz, unhappy with two posts struck in the first period, does not take off from last place with 8 points.
The first surprise of this Sunday match was in the Marseille line-up. At 36, the French international was barred in the hierarchy by the Spaniard Pau Lopez, OM summer recruit, replacing Sunday. He found the field after 16 games spent on the bench (France team included) and was even given the captain’s armband again by his coach Jorge Sampaoli, suspended for the match. In the absence of the fiery Argentinian on the bench, the Marseillais started the match upside down, Thomas Delaine hitting the amount twice (6e and 34e).
OM could have sunk if Boubakar Kouyaté, in an offside position, had not found himself on the path of a Metz goal, ultimately, logically canceled by video assistance (21st), or if Opa Nguette n had not negotiated many counterattacks so badly.
For the Marseillais, the only real opportunity came, as often, from the feet of Dimitri Payet. The playmaker found the crossbar in the 22e minute. In the absence of Boubacar Kamara, suspended for this meeting, Matteo Guendouzi has constantly sought solutions. Without success. Luis Henrique could have forgotten his poor performance in the 48e minute but stumbled on Alexandre Oukidja, decisive goalkeeper for the Lorraine club. The Messins played the rest of the game in a shorthand, after the exclusion of Jemerson (56e) for a bad gesture on Payet. Ten minutes later, it was Steve Mandanda who shone, with a duel won in front of Fabien Centonze. At eleven against ten, OM were rough, inconsistent.
And the breathtaking end of the match will not change anything. Oukidja saved his team on a header from Arkadiusz Milik in the 80e minute, before deflecting a shot from Konrad de La Fuente in the 87e. The nine minutes of added time will have slightly revived the hopes of the Marseille stadium. But OM skated and went on to a second 0-0, after that obtained against Paris-Saint-Germain, on Sunday, October 24, 2021.
Nice gives up second place to Lens
In a match where the spotlight was on Andy Delort, passed from Mosson to Nice harbor this summer for ten million euros, OGC Nice made the bad deal of the day (0-1).
Dominated by the conquering team of Christophe Galtier, Montpellier reached the break with a goalless score. Hérault goalkeeper Jonas Omlin had only two saves to make on the Gym’s ten shots in the first act. In the second half, the Nice came back with the same offensive intentions. Mario Lemina rocked the bar (54e) before Maxime Estève saves Montpellier after an acrobatic return from Delort (76e). The people of Nice will subsequently pay the price for this lack of efficiency. On the only highlight of visitors, Florent Mollet opens the brand at the 80e minute, a strike of the left foot which ends its race at the back of the net of Walter Benitez, the Nice goalkeeper.
Montpellier leaves the Allianz Riviera pantoise and returns from Nice with the three points. After his superb victory (4-0) against Troyes, Lens took advantage of this misstep at home for the Niçois to climb to second place in the Ligue 1 standings.
And besides
- The Geoffroy-Guichard stadium sounded hollow. But the area around the stadium was lively with angry supporters. Four groups demonstrated against the management of the club and its coach. On the field, the Saint-Etienne players were looking for their first victory, in an empty enclosure, after the closed session inflicted by the League, following the incidents against Angers, on Friday, October 22, 2021. And it is done . Badly embarked and led by two goals (from Mohamed Bayo and Jason Berthomier), Claude Puel’s men reversed the situation, scoring twice at the very end of the match against Clermont (3-2). Arnaud Nordin, Jean-Philippe Krasso and Saïdou Sow are the green scorers. ” It feels really good. We believed in it to the end, as we wanted. We know that this is only a small part of the road, which is very long ”, reacted Krasso on Prime Video. Finally, a little air for Saint Etienne, which ends this day at the 19e ranking place.
Quickly reduced to ten with the red card from Jérôme Hergault (28e), Lorient lost on his lawn against his neighbor from Brest (1-2). And this, despite the first goal of the season from Adrian Grbic, the Austrian striker of the Merlus. For Brest, Romain Faivre and Steve Mounié are the scorers of this Breton afternoon. The Brestois come out of the red zone (17e with 12 pts). Lorient remains on six games without winning while Brest continues with a second victory in a row after dominating Monaco (2-0) last weekend.
- Nantes and Strasbourg parted in a draw (2-2) despite the exclusion of Alsatian Ludovic Ajorque (51e) and both clubs remain stuck at 18 points. Kalifa Coulibaly scored the game’s first goal, but Habib Diallo equalized just before the break (44e, 1-1). At eleven against ten, Nantes regained the advantage thanks to Randal Kolo Muani (2-1, 49e), but the Alsatians again equalized by Thomasson (68e, 2-2).
- Eighteen points is also the total of Monaco, unable to impose himself on Reims (0-0). The Monegasques are struggling, they have not scored for three meetings. Imprecise and inoffensive, the ASM remains on three games without a win, in all competitions, and stagnates at the 10e place (18 pts).
