Ligue 1 Superthread 2017/18

Mr.Nice Guy

Saint-Etienne vs Monaco is coming up at 7.45. A chance for Monaco to gain some ground over Lyon and Marseille who play each other on Sunday. The home team have a good record in this fixture but they're missing their two first choice centre-backs in captain Perrin, plus Pierre Gabriel who was red carded last week. Team news:

Saint-Etienne XI: Ruffier - Maiga, Theophile-Catherine, Mbengue, Gabriel Silva - Pajot, Hernani - Dias Goncalves, Cabella, Monnet-Paquet - Diony.

Monaco XI: Subasic - Sidibe, Glik, Jemerson, Jorge - Lopes, Moutinho, Fabinho, Lemar - Balde, Falcao.

A bit surprissed Guido Carrillo is on the bench despite his goals recently for Monaco. Still looks a very strong side. Good to see Lemar starting. I'd be surprised if Saint-Etienne can get anything considering their form.

I'll say a Monaco win by two goals.

Mr.Nice Guy

1-0 Monaco. Sidibe scores after some poor defending from Saint-Etienne. Balde should have scored beforehand as the ball got caught in his feet. Exactly what the home side didn't want. Very small crowd to watch them too.

Update: 2-0 Monaco. Thomas Lemar. Lovely pace from him in the build up and a nice finish. Showed there why so many clubs want him. Defending was poor though.

Half-Time: Monaco go in 2-0 at the break. Saint-Etienne have been very poor. Gabriel Silva is having a shocker at left-back and Lopes and Sidibe are causing all sorts of problems down that flank. Monaco are comfortable and haven't even had to play at their best. Fabinho has done well. Lemar's goal was well taken. It would take one hell of a turnaround for Saint-Etienne to get anything from this game.

Mr.Nice Guy

Wow big moment here. Monaco make it 3-0 through Fabinho. Goalkeeper Ruffier is furious believing Fabinho was offside and rushes over to confront the linesman. It doesn't look like he touches the linesman at all. The referee comes over and I expected him to show Ruffier a yellow but he issues the red and sends him off!

The Saint-Etienne sporting director is now having to be ushered away as he angrily confronts the referee.

Update: 4-0 Monaco. Keita Balde smashes it home. Monaco piling on the misery. Fabinho involved in the build. Thirty minutes still to go.

Mr.Nice Guy

This is what Ruffier got sent off for.

https://twitter.com/philousports/status/941777549151027200

Full-Time: Monaco win 4-0. Comfortable evening for Monaco. Saint-Etienne worryingly sitting in 15th and could slide down further depending on weekend results.

Mr.Nice Guy

Rennes vs PSG is on Eir Sport 1 now. I didn't realise they were showing this. Nice surprise. Teams:

Rennes XI: Koubek; Danze, Mexer, Gnagnon, Bensebaini; Traore, Bourigeaud, Lea-Siliki, B.Andre; Mubele, Amalfitano.

PSG XI: Areola; Dani Alves, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Berchiche; Verratti, Lo Celso, Draxler; Mbappe, Cavani, Neymar.

And it's 1-0 PSG already. Mbappe with an assist for Neymar who taps in.

Goal: 2-0 now. Role reversal as Neymar puts one on a plate for Mbappe. Rennes defending poor.

Half-Time update: PSG lead 2-0 at the break. They've been comfortable. Neymar is running the show and has been great to watch. Cavani had a chance to wrap up the result but Koubek denied him. Can't see anything but a routine PSG win in the second half.

Goal! Mubele gets one back for Rennes. Another game where PSG fail to keep a clean sheet. Came from a corner.

Update: Rennes down to ten men as Andre gets a second yellow. So much for the comeback hopes.

Goal: 3-1 to PSG. Cavani with a lovely lob of Koubek. His first goal of December.

Goal: 4-1 to PSG less than 60 seconds after the restart. Neymar gets his second of the game. Mbappe with the assist. Similar story to the game's opener.

Update: Kimpembe sent off now. Second yellow for a foul in the box and now Rennes have a penalty.

And Khazri blazes the penalty miles over. One of the worst penalties you'll see this season.

Full-Time: PSG win it 4-1. Action-packed game: five goals, two red cards and a missed penalty. Neymar was superb. Mbappe was terrific too. Paris were comfortable really. Rennes got it back to 2-1 against the run of play but PSG were deserving winners and the scoreline was fair enough. I think the only concern Emery will have is the concession of goals. It won't be a factor in Ligue 1 but will be a problem if it carries into the new year in the Champions League. Motta came on as a sub so his return will help them.

Mr.Nice Guy

All of Saturday's results:

Rennes 1-4 PSG
Caen 0-0 Guingamp
Dijon 3-0 Lille
Montpellier 1-3 Metz
Strasbourg 2-1 Toulouse
Troyes 1-0 Amiens

The Metz win is a real shocker. Only their second victory of the season and they were 1-0 down as well. Lille and Toulouse are in a lot of trouble following those defeats.

Nantes vs Angers, Nice vs Bordeaux and Lyon vs Marseille are tomorrow's games. Those last two could be very good.

Mr.Nice Guy

Balotelli on the scoresheet again as Nice beat Bordeaux 1-0 earlier. Nantes beat Angers by the same scoreline. Lyon vs Marseille coming up in a big evening game at 8. Teams are in:

Lyon XI: Lopes; Tete, Marcelo, Morel, Marcal; Tousart, Ndombele; Cornet, Fekir, Aouar; Mariano Diaz.

Marseille XI: Mandanda; Sakai, Rami, Rolando, Amavi; Luiz Gustavo, Zambo Anguissa; Thauvin, Payet, Ocampos; Germain.

I like the look of this Lyon side. Tousart, Ndombele and Aouar all starting. For Marseille, Thauvin has been one of the best players in Ligue 1 this season and Germain looks like he is back with a bit of confidence. This could be a great game. I'll go for a Lyon win.

Mr.Nice Guy

Fekir has scored from a free-kick but it's an absolute howler from Mandanda. Wow.

https://twitter.com/InsideGones/status/942487158463528960

Half-Time: Lyon go in leading by a goal but Marseille have had the better of things. They should have equalised after Payet floated in a lovely cross which Rolando headed off target. Lyon are fortunate to have the advantage as they finished the half under plenty of pressure. Lopes made a good save too.

Goal: Mariano Diaz gets Lyon's second. Mandanda was unlucky on that occasion. He initially denied Mariano with a super stop but seconds later the striker scores anyway as Rolando falls asleep. Lyon have started this half well.

Full-Time: Lyon win 2-0. A deserved win although Marseille did have plenty of chances to score. Lopes made several good saves and this game really highlighted how Marseille are crying out for a quality striker. PSG have Cavani, Monaco have Falcao, Lyon have Mariano, but Marseille don't have anyone on that level. Mitroglou and Germain aren't good enough to be the main man.

Mr.Nice Guy

Tonight is the final Ligue 1 action of 2017. Then there won't be a game until January 12th. All twenty teams are playing.

Amiens vs Nantes
Angers vs Dijon
Bordeaux vs Montpellier
Guingamp vs Saint-Etienne
Lille vs Nice
Marseille vs Troyes
Metz vs Strasbourg
Monaco vs Rennes
PSG vs Caen
Toulouse vs Lyon

PSG vs Caen is on BT Sport 3. Kick-off at 7.50.

ERG89

https://twitter.com/EiFSoccer/status/943576676524535808
What a finish. 53rd goal in 2017 for him.
Mbappe's hair meanwhile.....

lassykk

ERG89 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/EiFSoccer/status/943576676524535808
What a finish. 53rd goal in 2017 for him.
Mbappe's hair meanwhile.....

Generated amazing power from that type of shot

Mr.Nice Guy

All results from tonight:

Amiens 0-1 Nantes
Angers 2-1 Dijon
Bordeaux 0-2 Montpellier
Guingamp 2-1 Saint-Etienne
Lille 1-1 Nice
Marseille 3-1 Troyes
Metz 3-0 Strasbourg
Monaco 2-1 Rennes
PSG 3-1 Caen
Toulouse 1-2 Lyon

I had half an eye on the PSG game and Mbappe looked very good. It was his 19th birthday today and he got a goal and an assist. Amazing to think the guy has yet to peak. The Cavani goal was a stunner. Neymar looked a bit sulky from what I saw and was throwing himself to the ground a lot. He didn't look very happy. Having said that he did provide an assist for the third and he almost scored himself. Caen didn't disgrace themselves even though they were outclassed. It means PSG go into the winter break with a 9 point lead over Monaco and Lyon. Marseille are a little bit behind them in fourth.

Nantes got a stoppage time winner and are sitting in fifth spot. It's been a very good season so far for Ranieri. Nice are sixth which is amazing considering they were plummeting down the table a few months ago.

Bordeaux losing again puts Gourvennec in great danger of losing his job over the Christmas period. They're only a point above the bottom three. Toulouse and Saint-Etienne are also dangerously close to the relegation places. Metz remain bottom but now have two back-to-back wins. It would be a surprise if they can survive though.

I think it's been a good first half of the season. Long wait now for the second half!

- bo -

Incredible position to be in at the break. 5th place, 6 points and a superior goal difference to Nice in 6th. Last night was a rubbish game, a real smash and grab 2 minutes into stoppages. It's a massive goal too as PSG at home is the first game back in the new year, realistically a loss there so hoping the teams in the 2/3 positions below slip up too. It's absolutely hilarious seeing Bordeaux and Sainté in the positions they are....

Mr.Nice Guy

Anyone else missing their Ligue 1 fix? I realised we've gone past the halfway point of the campaign so like last year I decided to do a Ligue 1 Team of the Half-Season to keep me occupied. Here are my choices...



Goalkeeper: I decided to go with Anthony Lopes. He's had a good season with Lyon and finished off the year with two good performances against Marseille and Toulouse, including a great stop in the latter game. He also did well against PSG even though they lost that one 2-0, managing to save a Cavani peno. I didn't feel there were any outstanding candidates here. Areola has improved at PSG from a mistake-riddled season last year.

Right-back: I decided to rule out Alves and Meunier because while both are excellent players they have alternated the spot and been rested for quite a lot of games. By doing so, I've opened up the field a bit. I decided to go for Strasbourg's Kenny Lala who has been a big part in them finishing the year in a surprisingly good 11th. He impressed me when I saw their 3-0 win over Bordeaux recently. He can also take a penalty which is a nice skill for a full-back. Monaco's Djibril Sidibe was in my thoughts and is worth a mention too.

Centre-backs: I have gone for Kamil Glik as one of my choices as I think he's been a vital part of Monaco finishing the year in second; he was particularly good in the first half of the season and has a tendency to chip in with big goals, like the winner in Monaco's 3-2 win over Toulouse in the opener. His partner I've chosen is PSG's Marquinhos. He's calm when challenged and rarely puts a foot wrong; he's also played more games than any of PSG's defenders which doesn't surprise me. Other honourable mentions go to Montpellier's Pedro Mendes, Troyes' Christophe Herelle and Rennes youngster Joris Gnagnon.

Left-back: I have chosen Marseille's Jordan Amavi for this spot. He's improved a lot following his spell at Villa and managed to secure the position in Marseille's team even before Evra's meltdown. I remember watching him against PSG and he did very good. I also saw him have a good performance against a strong Lyon attack. His form has also seen him earn a call-up to the French side.

Central midfield: The two I've gone for here are Marseille's Luis Gustavo and PSG's Adrien Rabiot. Gustavo played really well in the game with PSG that I touched on above, scoring the opener in a game that ended 2-2, and he tends to produce reliable performances. Alongside him, Rabiot gets the nod and he's continued on from his strong season last campaign. He was a key player in PSG's 2-1 win away to Monaco. He was also great when PSG demolished Bordeaux 6-2. The young Lyon duo of Tanguy Ndombele and Houssem Aouar also deserve honourable mentions.

Attacking Midfield (Right): This for me was the hardest position to nail down as I felt there were three excellent candidates. In the end I've gone for Kylian Mbappe. He has finished the season in excellent form and I give him credit for adapting to a role that he didn't play at Monaco last season. His pace is just so good to watch. The other players in my thoughts were Bordeaux's Malcom and Marseille's Florian Thauvin, both of whom have had great seasons and I think a good case can be made for them too.

Attacking Midfield (Central): It has to be Nabil Fekir for me here. He has been immense for Lyon, creating chances and scoring lots of goals, including the winner from his free-kick against Monaco in the dying seconds. I'm interested to see can he continue this form into 2018 and possibly become a key figure for France.

Attacking Midfield (Left) - No surprise for this spot. It's Neymar. He's been exceptional, scoring goals, providing assists, and has taken PSG up a gear. The fact the transfer fee doesn't seem such a big deal now speaks volumes.

Striker: I think it has to be Edinson Cavani for the striker spot. He's top of the goalscorer charts once again and has produced moments of magic such as his terrific stoppage time free-kick to earn a point against Marseille. Falcao also deserves credit for scoring some big goals for Monaco and is now without Mbappe and Germain up top like last season. Balotelli deserves credit for his excellent season with Nice. Mariano Diaz has also proven to be a great replacement for Lacazette at Lyon.

So my team:

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A. Lopes (Lyon)

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K. Lala (Strasbourg)

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K. Glik (Monaco)

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Marquinhos (PSG)---J. Amavi (Marseille)

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L. Gustavo (Marseille)

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A. Rabiot (PSG)

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K. Mbappe (PSG)

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N. Fekir (Lyon)

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Neymar (PSG)

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E. Cavani (PSG)

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Manager of the Half-Season: Unai Emery.

I think it has to be Emery. This time last season there were a couple of poor results and their goal difference was trailing that of Monaco. This year they have only lost the once, have the best goal difference by a long way, and are 9 points clear at the top. The big tests are in the second half of the season but so far, so good for him. Strasbourg's Thierry Laurey also deserves credit for having his team 11th when they were tipped for the drop. Lenoardo Jardim has seen a large chunk of his title winning team disappear but he still has his team in second and playing good stuff at times. Ranieri at Nantes has also done great work continuing on from the excellent Conceicao last season which I didn't expect.

Star of the season so far: I think it has to be Neymar. He dazzled on his debut and has 11 goals and 9 assists so far. It wouldn't shock me if he breaks the Ronaldo/Messi World Player of the Year dominance in 2018. He probably needs to win the World Cup with Brazil to do it, or else a Champions League with PSG.

Disappointment of the season: A month or so ago I would have said Nice but they finish the year in 6th which is pretty good considering they were bottom half for so long. I think it's a toss up between Bordeaux and Lille. Bordeaux finished last season strongly under Gourvennec and looked to be on the brink of a Europa League challenge this season but they have been dismal this year with Malcom the only bright spark. Lille however are probably deserving of this accolade as there was so much optimism with Bielsa arriving yet the season has been a nightmare and they finish the year in 18th.

Ones to watch for the rest of the season: Leaving aside the more obvious names at the bigger clubs, Benjamin Bourigeaud is an exciting young creative player for Rennes and has had a good first half of the season; Joris Gnagnon is his teammate at the club and has impressed in defence. Striker Karl Toko Ekambi has done well scoring goals in a poor Angers side. It will be interesting to see if they hang on to him. I think they need to. The attacking Martin Terrier has been great for Strasbourg, on loan from Lille. I'm not sure where he will be in January though. I mentioned the Korean duo of Dijon's midfielder Chang-Hoon Kwon and Troyes striker Suk Hyun-Jun a few pages back. They have impressed me. I'm probably leaving a few people out but they're the ones coming to mind at the moment.

Prediction for the title: Impossible to see past PSG unless there is an almighty collapse.

The battle for second place is less clear and looks like it will be between Monaco and Lyon unless Marseille buy a good striker in January. Tough to call who gets second at this moment but I'd be inclined now to say Monaco since they've no European distraction. It will be interesting also to see what happens in the relegation zone with big clubs like Lille, Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux hovering around there.

Looking forward to Ligue 1's return on January 12th. Feels like a long way away...

Mr.Nice Guy

Ligue 1 returned from its winter break on Friday with Guingamp winning away at Strasbourg. The opening goal was a very nice move finished off by Salibur.

https://twitter.com/goal/status/951910243969130496

Some interesting games on Saturday including Rennes at home to Marseille plus a tricky game for Monaco away to Montpellier who have the best defence in the league.

Mr.Nice Guy

Saturday's results:

Rennes 0-3 Marseille
Caen 0-1 Lille
Dijon 1-1 Metz
Montpellier 0-0 Monaco
Nice 1-0 Amiens
Troyes 0-1 Bordeaux

Poor result for Monaco as they fail to get past the league's best defence. Marseille's good win now brings them a point behind Monaco. It means Lyon can now go second with a win tomorrow.

Vital win for Bordeaux that takes them away from danger and up to 13th. Malcom provided an assist for Laborde's goal and that may end up being Malcom's last game as he is being heavily linked with a move to England. Bordeaux keeper Costil saved a peno in the game too.

Bottom side Metz got a late equaliser against Dijon which keeps their survival hopes alive. Lille got a valuable win as well to lift them away from the drop zone. Nice meanwhile are continuing their pre-break good form too.

The matches tomorrow are Saint-Etienne in 17th taking on Toulouse in 18th, Lyon looking to go second with a home game against second-last Angers, and the evening game is Ranieri's Nantes, who are currently 5th, taking on PSG. Neymar has been left out of the squad to rehab an injury, but Cavani will return to the side. He and Pastore got into some trouble after they came back late following the winter break.

Mr.Nice Guy

Just watched Saint-Etienne's 2-0 win over Toulouse. It was a close game and Toulouse had their moments but just couldn't take their chances. Dupraz wasn't there to watch the game as he reportedly had some health scare prior to the game.

Most shocking moment of the match was this tackle by Bryan Dabo on Issiaga Sylla. This was very bad and should have resulted in a red card. The final replay really shows how nasty it looked:

https://twitter.com/Kryzix/status/952566758833119232

He was blessed to escape with a yellow card.

Mr.Nice Guy

Lyon surprisingly have failed to beat Angers at home as they draw 1-1, meaning Monaco remain in second place. Mariano Diaz was missing for them up top but that still has to go down as two points dropped. That means PSG can go 11 points clear if they beat Nantes away in tonight's game (kick-off is at 8). Here are the teams:

Nantes XI: Tatarusanu ; Pallois, Diego Carlos, Awaziem ; Lima, Toure, Girotto, Rongier, Dubois ; Bammou, Sala.

PSG XI: Areola ; Kurzawa, Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Dani Alves ; Rabiot, Lo Celso, Verratti ; Mbappe, Cavani, Di Maria.

Hard to go against a PSG win. Nantes will need a good game from Tatarusanu who has had a good season. I reckon PSG to win by two goals.

Mr.Nice Guy

1-0 PSG. Di Maria with the goal. Lovely dummy from Mbappe in the build-up which fooled the Nantes defence.

https://twitter.com/L1Buts/status/952637168425545728

Update: 1-0 to PSG at Half-Time. An enjoyable half of football. Ranieri said before the game they would park three buses but they pressed high before the goal and I thought they were doing well. The goal was a big blow to them but they have had decent possession in their half. I've been impressed with PSG's centre-backs Marquinhos and Kimpembe. I really like this combination. Verratti has done well in midfield too. Di Maria should have made it 2-0 as he missed a sitter. He has caused problems. Nantes have largely been restricted to shots from distance but Lima has done well down the left side when he's gotten forward.

Update: Big moment on the hour mark as Sala heads in an equaliser from a set-piece but is flagged offside - except he wasn't. His teammates were but not him.

Mr.Nice Guy

This is amazing sh*t.

Diego Carlos brings down the ref seemingly accidentally and the ref kicks out at the player. Then the ref sends the player off.

Mad.

monkey9

That is an utter disgrace from the ref. He should get as long a ban as the Nantes player will get.

Mr.Nice Guy

Here's the incident again.

https://twitter.com/Jetlu2002/status/952659652260581378

Don't think the player meant it at all. The ref lost his cool.

The game ends 1-0 to PSG. A deserved win but all the talk will be on that moment I bet.

ERG89

The disallowed goal for Nantes was unlucky.
2 players were off but the player who put it in wasn't.
Dreadful officiating & unprofessional to kick out at the player too.

monkey9

The second yellow may have been for something the player said rather than the actual collision with the ref (which was clearly accidental). But for the ref to kick out himself is incredible.

titan18

monkey9 wrote: »

The second yellow may have been for something the player said rather than the actual collision with the ref (which was clearly accidental). But for the ref to kick out himself is incredible.

Well tbf, if the ref tries to kick you, you're going to say something to him.

- bo -

Fairly gutted after that. Didn't get a sniff first half, it was a stroll for Paris and they should have been out of sight. Thought we were much better 2nd half and on another night could have nicked a point. Sala's disallowed goal I'm still in two minds about. And I'm still struggling to believe I actually saw a referee try to kick a player, Chapron is known for being a bit of a nutcase but that genuinely is just beyond belief. There is an emergency discipliniary meeting this morning I think. He was retiring at the end of this season anyway so he may well have reffed his last game...

Cantona's Collars

The ref who kicked out and sent off the Nantes player has been suspended.

- bo -

And Diego Carlos' second yellow has been overturned, he's free to face Toulouse on Wednesday evening. Nice one.

Saw a quote there from the referee saying when he fell he felt a sharp pain that caused him to react the way he did. Gas man...

Mr.Nice Guy

Good to see common sense wins out. It would have been ridiculous for Carlos' ban to stand.

There's an interesting double header of live games on BT Sport tomorrow from 6pm: Marseille vs Strasbourg and Monaco vs Nice.

Mr.Nice Guy

Team news for Marseille vs Strasbourg that kicks off at 6 on BT Sport:

Marseille XI: Mandanda; B.Sarr, Rami, Abdennour, Sakai; Anguissa, Luiz Gustavo; Thauvin, Sanson, Ocampos; Germain.

Strasbourg XI: Oukidja; Lala, Martinez, Kone, Foulquier; Martin, Aholou, Gancalves; Sacko, Da Costa, Bahoken.

Thauvin and Gustavo have been two of the best players in the league and were excellent at the weekend against Rennes. Strasbourg have lost all their games without their midfielder Dimitri Lienard, and he is missing again so I fully expect a solid Marseille win.

Update: 0-0 at Half-Time. Quite a niggly half, lots of fouls and very stop-start. Goalkeepers haven't had to do too much. Marseille had the better of things and carved out the best chance just before the break when Thauvin did really well to create an opening and crossed for Ocampos who headed over. Thauvin has been the best player. Strasbourg have had some decent moments as well through set-piece chances. Germain's not been good and Marseille really need a clinical goalscorer up top like their rivals have.

Update II: Marseille have penalty. Thauvin fouled. Germain will take it. And it's saved! Thauvin missed a peno at the weekend against Rennes which is likely why he didn't take this one. Less than twenty minutes to go.

Goal! Marseille score finally as the sub Njie smashes home after good work again from Thauvin down the right. It's been coming. Little over ten minutes remaining.

Goal 2 for Marseille! Beautiful goal from Payet who came on as sub. He went around the keeper and tucked it home. Bamboozled the keeper Oukidja so badly that he's ended up injured!

https://twitter.com/TeamOM_Officiel/status/953353842250436608

Full-Time: Marseille win 2-0. A deserved victory. Payet was terrific when he came on. Gustavo also played well. No doubt for me who the star performer was: Thauvin. I thought he was brilliant and caused all sorts of problems.

Mr.Nice Guy

There was another game at 6 tonight: Bordeaux vs Caen and that's ended with Caen winning 2-0 away. Hugely damaging loss for Bordeaux. Paul Baysse was sent off in the 86th minute during his home debut and a Santini penalty in the 89th minute and a Rodelin goal in the 94th sealed the win. Must be curtains now for Gourvennec at the club (although I've said that before).

Monaco vs Nice under way in the second of tonight's double bill. Monaco looking to retake second spot after Marseille's win. Teams:

Monaco XI: Subasic; Sidibe, Glik, Raggi, Jorge; Moutinho, N'Doram; Diakhaby, Lemar, Keita Balde; Falcao.

Nice XI: Benitez; Burner, Marlon, Dante, Le Marchand; Seri, Cyprien, Lees-Melou; Plea, Saint-Maximin, Balotelli.

A lot of great attacking talent on show in this game. Hopefully a good few goals.

Update: Goal for Monaco! Diakhaby scores. Nice unhappy as they want handball.

https://twitter.com/beINSPORTS/status/953367155541553152

Update: 1-0 to Monaco at Half-Time. Home side pretty fortunate to go in with the lead. It could be argued that the handball wasn't deliberate but if it happened against my team I'd be annoyed. I thought Nice had good spells at times. Neither side at their best though. Strong winds causing some difficulties. I'd like to see Monaco's players offer more support to Falcao. There was one moment where he held the ball up successfully and there was no one near him to come for it. Hoping for a better second half.

Update: 1-1! Balotelli with the equaliser after a cross from Saint-Maximin. Good start to the half.

Goal! 2-1 to Nice as Super Mario gets his second! He loves playing Monaco. Got a big slice of fortune as there was a deflection on the strike but Nice are worthy of this lead.

ERG89

Monaco are a far cry from last season; even with all the sales this is worse than I was expecting.

Mr.Nice Guy

84 minutes in and a tired Balotelli back in his own half to help out the defence. Not the first time I've seen him put a shift in this season either. Great to see.

Mr.Nice Guy

Falcao equalises! Quick free-kick catches Nice out.

Mr.Nice Guy

Full-Time: The match ends 2-2. Monaco blessed to escape from that game with a point as Nice were the better side. Balotelli impressed me with his workrate and caused Glik plenty of problems. Saint-Maximin did well also and his decision-making, which is often his weak point, was very good tonight and he did very well to put in Cyprien who couldn't take the chance. Seri had a good showing in the second half too. Monaco were disappointing overall. Falcao didn't have much service. Fabinho was a big loss in midfield but even factoring that into account, they were poor. The draw means Marseille stay in second while Lyon can take the spot tomorrow with a win.

Another double bill is on BT Sport tomorrow from 6: Guingamp vs Lyon and PSG vs Dijon. The first game could be a close one as Guingamp have been in good form of late. The evening game should see PSG romp to victory.

- bo -

96th minute fcuking peno...

Mr.Nice Guy

Results from tonight's games that kicked off at 6:

Amiens 1-1 Montpellier
Angers 3-1 Troyes
Guingamp 0-2 Lyon
Lille 1-2 Rennes
Metz 3-0 Saint-Etienne
Toulouse 1-1 Nantes

Some surprising results here. Bottom club Metz showing they are still in with a chance of survival with a big win. Lille suffered a big blow as they were winning 1-0 but lost it conceding two late goals in the last 5 minutes. Anger's win lifts them above Troyes who drop into the bottom three. Toulouse got a precious point via a 96th minute penalty from Gradel against Nantes.

I watched Lyon's 2-0 win away to Guingamp that puts them second. They were very impressive at times. Fekir got the opener and played very well once again. He's been one of the league's star performers this season. Aouar got the second goal; he had a disappointing first half and nothing was going for him but he was much better in the second half. Star man for me was the left-back Ferland Mendy. He was very good and caused lots of problems going forward, as well as providing the assist for Aouar's goal. Check out this great skill from him in the first half:

https://twitter.com/ActuLyonnais/status/953700909065887746

PSG vs Dijon is the final match of the round and is live from 8. Teams are in:

PSG XI: Areola; Meunier, Thiago Silva, Kimpembe, Berchiche; Verratti, Lo Celso, Draxler; Di Maria, Cavani, Neymar.

Dijon XI: Reynet; Chafik, Yambere, Varrault, Rosier; Abeid; Kwon, Marie, Xeka, Said; Jeannot.

Kwon is a player I like for Dijon but he'll have his work cut out tonight. Good to see Neymar back for PSG. Mbappe starts on the bench.

Mr.Nice Guy

Beautiful opening goal from Di Maria. 1-0.

https://twitter.com/goal/status/953722925370155008

Update: 2-0 now. Di Maria with a tap in after Dijon lose the ball cheaply.

3-0 now. Cavani with a header that puts him level with Zlatan for PSG goals.

Urindanger

Glad to see Di Maria fight for a place in the first XI he's been playing well in recent weeks. He'll be a good buy for anyone besides United this summer.

Mr.Nice Guy

Lovely free-kick from Neymar to make it 4-0.

Half-Time: PSG go in four goals to the good. They have been very clinical in exploiting Dijon's errors. Dijon have tried to make a go of it but careless errors have cost them dearly. Some of those goals were avoidable. I can't say anything positive about them but Di Maria has done well for PSG. Thiago Silva has defended well too. Perfect night for PSG now is Cavani to become PSG's all time goalscorer with a goal in the second half and for Di Maria to get his hat-trick.

Mr.Nice Guy

Neymar gets his second and makes it 5-0. Dijon again causing themselves problems. Yambere this time.

Mr.Nice Guy

Neeeeeeyyyyymaaaaarrrrrr.

Super goal to get his hat-trick. 6-0.

https://twitter.com/goal/status/953744694000824320

Mr.Nice Guy

Mbapppppppeeeeeeeee

7-0. Dijon destroyed. Neymar assist too.

Dijon goalie Baptiste Reynet just spent about thirty seconds crouched with his gloves over his mouth. Neymar has traumatised him.

https://twitter.com/philousports/status/953743171242119171

Mr.Nice Guy

Now PSG have a penalty and Cavani has a chance to become all-time record scorer.

But Neymar is taking it as he is the peno taker. :pac:

And he scores! Crowd were chanting Cavani's name before the spot kick was taken.

8-0. Neymar's fourth. Dijon's biggest ever defeat.

Urindanger

Neymar clearly doesn't like mustard.

What a whooping.

Mr.Nice Guy

Full-Time. Ref blows right on the 90 minute mark to show Dijon mercy.

Neymar's performance was mesmerising. He scored 4 goals and provided 2 assists. Almost got a fifth goal late on.

The penalty moment was incredible: Neymar has already got a hat-trick, Cavani is one goal away from becoming PSG's record goalscorer, so you'd think Neymar would let him take it but nope - he wanted the fourth goal.

A lot of great performers for PSG: Lo Celso, Di Maria, Kimpembe, Thiago Silva. But Neymar will get all the headlines and rightly so. I think he is at this moment the second best player in the world. I suppose the matches with Madrid next month will tell us more about that. I said on another thread that he could win the Ballon d'Or if he does something historic this year. I wouldn't put it past him.

Next game for PSG is a cracker: away to Lyon who are in second. That one is on Sunday evening and I can't wait for that. Next game in Ligue 1 is Caen vs Marseille on Friday.

monkey9

@Mr Nice Guy, do you support a French club or have a soft spot for any club in particular?

Mr.Nice Guy

monkey9 wrote: »

@Mr Nice Guy, do you support a French club or have a soft spot for any club in particular?

No, haven't adopted any as yet. I was very fond of that great Monaco team last season, and this season I'm enjoying watching Lyon, but I wouldn't say I support these sides. I've always wanted to visit the Brittany region of France because of their close links to Ireland and I've told myself if I get round to that I'll pop down to watch one of Lorient's games, so perhaps they'll be the French side I wind up adopting. Pity they're 6th in Ligue 2 at the moment.

- bo -

I was strolling around Lorient a few years ago and ended up walking by their ground. It's a nice little ground, you can look through the outer panels of it you can see inside to the pitch & stands.

Anyways if Lorient don't end up capturing your heart you're welcome to be a co-founding member of the official Boards FCN supporters club :pac:

Mr.Nice Guy

Caen vs Marseille starts at 7.45 on BT Sport 3. A win puts Marseille second. Teams:

Caen XI: Vercoutre; Guilbert, Da Silva, Djiku, Bessat; Stavitski, Sankoh, Feret, Bazile; Rodelin, Santini.

Marseille XI: Mandanda; Sarr, Rami, Rolando, Sakai; Anguissa, Luiz Gustavo; Thauvin, Lopez, Payet; N'Jie.

I would expect Marseille to win but I think Caen can make it difficult for them. I was thinking to myself if Chelsea are set on getting a big target man this window then they could do worse than look at Ivan Santini. He is only an inch shorter than Andy Carroll and a year younger too. He got 2 caps for Croatia last year on the back of a good 2017. I reckon they could get him for less than twenty million. He's got 7 goals this campaign which isn't bad.

Looking forward to seeing how Thauvin and Payet get on as they were great against Strasbourg. I'll go for a 2-1 Marseille win.

Half-Time update: Well that was a disappointing half. The pitch is in poor condition and it's contributed to a very scrappy game. Lots of fouls and few scoring opportunities. Zambo Anguissa has been the best player so far I would say. He's won a lot of challenges in midfield. Santini got a goal for Caen but it was rightly ruled offside. Thauvin had a chance but was closed down well by Bessat. Hopefully the next 45 is better.

Update: 1-0 to the away side. Payet scores on 55 minutes via the penalty spot after Sarr was rashly challenged by Bessat.

Update: 2-0. Thauvin with a lovely curling effort after his first effort had been blocked.

https://twitter.com/goal/status/954466299085598720

Full-Time: Marseille win 2-0. A solid win for the away side against a Caen side that offered very little. The Thauvin goal - his tenth of the season - was the outstanding moment of the match. Rest of the game was a bit of a slog. Marseille are second now for the time being at least.

Was catching up on some news from today and it seems Lyon have signed Martin Terrier from Lille who has been on loan at Strasbourg. He's had an excellent start to the season and the fee is said to be €13m which sounds like a bargain. Another very exciting French youth prospect to add to Lyon's squad. Also Southampton said to be interested in Monaco striker Guido Carrillo. I'm sure Jardim would be reluctant to lose him as I remember hearing that he thinks Carrillo is the hardest working player in his squad.