PSG notched a fifth-straight win, 4-0 away to ten-man Sainté, to restore a seven-point lead over nearest rivals OM, who could only draw in Metz, while OL lost Memphis Depay and Jeff Reine-Adélaïde for the season.
Paris Saint-Germain are once again Autumn Champions in France, Thomas Tuchel’s men stitching up the honorific title with an accomplished 4-0 win in Saint-Etienne. Kylian Mbappé hit a double, with ‘DIM’ partners Neymar (who also saw a penalty crash back off the post) and Mauro Icardi each chipping in against a Sainté side reduced to ten men just 25 minutes in when Jean-Eudes Aholou scythed down Leandro Paredes.
Tuchel: ‘Another great performance’
“I expected my players to put in a serious display, and we continued our good work on the pitch. I’m very happy about that,” said the German, who will be up against former club Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 following Monday’s draw. “We controlled the game in our opponent’s half and we put away our chances. It was another great performance from us and I’m very happy about that.”
This third defeat in four league outings sends Sainté down to 11th, and raises question marks over their European ambitions – unlike Marseille who, despite being held 1-1 in Metz, have a four-point lead over third and are thus guaranteed of ending the year in second place. Opa Nguette’s opener was cancelled out by in-form super-sub Nemanja Radonjic, who hit his fourth in five matches off the bench for André Villas-Boas’ side.
AVB: ‘Not such a bad result’
“It was a difficult game and it could have become even more tricky just after half-time. The penalty save by Yohann [Pelé, who came on for the injured Steve Mandanda] kept us in the match, and in the end it is not such a bad result because we managed to get the equaliser,” said AVB, whose side’s impressive six-match winning run came to an end in the north-east. “Our substitutes helped change the game and we showed the spirit needed against a Metz side whose individual man-marking caused us problems. They didn’t leave us much space and performed well.”
Nightmare night for OL
Former OM boss Rudi Garcia’s difficult start to life at Lyon took a turn for the worse as his side lost not only Netherlands superstar Memphis Depay but also up-and-coming midfielder Jeff Reine-Adélaïde to cruciate knee ligament injuries as they fell 1-0 at home to Rennes. France U21 midfield sensation Eduardo Camavinga proved the hero for Rennes, cutting through the home defence to smash home the winner – the 17-year-old’s first-ever Ligue 1 Conforama goal!
“It’s a very bad evening. As well as losing there’s also the injury to Memphis Depay, which doesn’t look good, and also Jeff Reine-Adélaïde. With Memphis it looked like the cruciate ligaments in his left knee. With Jeff, we’ll see,” said Garcia, whose side dip to eighth. “As for the game, we were wasteful in possession and struggled to put Rennes under pressure. If Anthony Lopes hadn’t played so well we might have lost by more.”
Sanches steps up
Meanwhile Lopes’ Portugal teammate Renato Sanches was the main man as LOSC soared to third place on the back of a 2-1 win over Montpellier. Andy Delort cancelled out Jonathan Ikone’s penalty with 15 minutes to go, but Sanches took matters into his own hands and capped his best Ligue 1 Conforama performance so far with a fine individual effort to win it (84′).
The win leaves LOSC a point clear of fourth-placed Rennes, who have now won five in a row in all competitions but lead fifth-placed FC Nantes by just a point. Les Canaris had Imran Louza to thank for a 1-0 win in Nîmes, while Strasbourg confirmed their return to form with a 1-0 win in Bordeaux that came courtesy of giant striker Ludovic Ajorque’s sixth of the season.
Oudin at it again
Like Nantes, Strasbourg and Rennes, Reims were 1-0 away winners, torching Toulouse’s hopes of peeling themselves off the bottom of the table as Rémi Oudin hit his second in as many matches to take the Champagne club sixth.
Monaco climb into the top half of the table (ninth) despite a goalless draw away to an Angers side now winless in four, while neither 14th-placed OGC Nice nor Stade Brestois 29 in 15th could do much to move away from the drop zone as they played out a similar stalemate in Brittany.
Huffing and puffing
Struggling Amiens (17th) had a fit-again Moussa Konaté finding the goal trail as Dijon (16th) came calling, but Venezuelan international Jhonder Cadiz held down his place in Stéphane Jobard’s side by bagging his second of the season to clinch what turned out to be a relegation zero-pointer 1-1.
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