draw for Lille against Nantes, Lyon wins ingloriously against Montpellier

Lille, held in check by Nantes at home (1-1), remained at the foot of the Ligue 1 podium on Saturday January 4 during the sixteenth day which on the other hand smiled on Lyon, winner in pain of the red lantern Montpellier at Groupama Stadium (1-0).

Losc (fourth in the standings) had a great opportunity to grab third place, two and a half weeks after the heavy defeat of Monaco (third) against PSG at the Louis-II stadium (4-2). But Bruno Genesio’s men, undefeated in the championship since September 13, appeared short of ideas and breath against the Nantes team who were in great difficulty.

Lille thought they had done the hard part by opening the score just before the break (40th minute) thanks to Gabriel Gudmundsson. But the Canaries managed to equalize on a penalty converted by Matthis Albine (70th), giving a little breathing room to their coach Antoine Kombouaré, in a very precarious situation and who almost got disembarked during the end-of-season break. year.

First victory for the new Saint-Etienne coach

Nantes is still seriously stuck at the bottom of the table, currently fifteenth, but it will perhaps be able to count on the experience of its recruit, the ex-Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, who had a good first outing. in its new colors.

The recovery was also delicate for Lyon, which struggled for a long time at home against Montpellier before forcing its opponent to fold at the last minute. Pierre Sage had decided to spare his two key assets, striker Rayan Cherki and midfielder Corentin Tolisso, substitutes at kick-off.

Without their prodigy and their 2018 world champion, OL produced an ordinary copy but the entry into play of the two players at the end of the match (65th) brought a little more madness and the Lyonnais ended up cracking the Héraultais in stoppage time on an own goal from the unfortunate Khalil Fayad (90ᵉ+1). OL are thus back on top (5ᵉ), two lengths behind the leading trio.

In the second part of the ranking, Saint-Etienne offered itself a precious victory against Reims at Geoffroy-Guichard (3-1) for the great first of the new Norwegian coach Eirik Horneland. Although trailing, the Greens reversed the situation in the second half under the leadership of Augustine Boakye, who scored twice. Now fourteenth, they can breathe a week before a highly perilous trip to Paris.