League 1 | Lens still slowing down in Strasbourg, Reims and Brest riding the wave

It was a spectacular match at La Meinau, but in a weekend where French refereeing is especially in the spotlight, the copy rendered by Stéphanie Frappart on the Strasbourg pitch will undoubtedly leave something to be desired at the end of this encounter. Already victorious against OM at home, RC Strasbourg was keen to confirm this good performance with a second consecutive success on home soil. However, the Lensois collective complicated the Alsatian task very early in this poster. M’Bala Nzola first opened the scoring with a cross shot (0-1, 5th), then Abakar Sylla took advantage of a corner from Sebastian Nanasi to equalize with a precise header (1-1, 18th) .

Authors of good offensive pressing, the Northerners regained the advantage thanks to Andy Diouf. The midfielder beat Ismaël Doukouré to deceive Djordje Petrovic with a shot between the legs (1-2, 45th). With this goal just before the break, Will Still’s men believed for a long time to obtain their third success of the season in Ligue 1. Unfortunately for Lens, a not very obvious mistake from Jhoanner Chavez in his own area offered the opportunity to Habib Diarra to equalize from the penalty spot with a calm counterattack (2-2, 60th). Then, the last half hour of regulation time was marked by a lot of tension and the feeling for the Lensois, still sixth, of letting two precious points slip away in the general classification.

• What we take away: Lens is still one of the three undefeated teams in Ligue 1 with AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.

Brest always has the key to moving on after a Champions League match. As in the wake of its first in C1, the Breton club still digested its card on the Salzburg lawn on Tuesday (0-4) by winning against Le Havre. Already excellent five days ago, Ludovic Ajorque opened the scoring on a cross from the very good Mama Baldé, who then obtained the severe exclusion of Etienne Youte while in the first period, Abdoulaye Ndiaye had miraculously avoided the red to Brest on a tackle with both feet off the ground. The match still ended at 10 against 10 after Massadio Haidara’s second yellow, but incoming Ibrahim Salah made the break after hitting the bar.

• What we remember : The return to competition of Pierre-Lees Melou, who played the entire second half.

The crisis continues in Montpellier. Seventeenth and relegated before the kick-off of its confrontation with Stade de Reims, the MHSC will not leave the red zone at the end of this seventh day, the fault of a defense still in agony on the pitch champagne. A little against the flow of play, the locals found the fault thanks to Marshall Munetsi on their first offensive (1-0, 6th) before doubling the lead thanks to the excellent Keito Nakamura (2-0, 25th). With a long shot, Arnaud Nordin wanted to sound the revolt (2-1, 37th), but that was not enough to mask the obvious shortcomings in the visitors’ defensive sector. Returning from the locker room, Nakamura gave himself an assist following a precise cross on the head of Oumar Diakité (3-1, 57th). Too reactionary and despite Nordin’s double at the start of added time (3-2, 91st), the Montpellier collective conceded a penalty converted by Teddy Teuma (4-2, 93rd).

• What we remember : Second worst defense in the championship after AS Saint-Etienne at the dawn of this seventh day, the Héraultais are now dead last in this area with already 21 goals conceded.