Olympique Lyonnais will spend the short winter break on top of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table on goal difference after beating FC Nantes 3-0 on Wednesday. LOSC and Paris Saint-Germain also won as the top three remain separated by just one point.
Lyon started the day in second place by a difference of one goal from Lille, but they moved above their rivals by easing to victory over Les Canaris, while LOSC won 3-2 at Montpellier Hérault SC.
OL scored all their goals in the first half at the Groupama Stadium, never looking back after Karl Toko-Ekambi opened the scoring in the fourth minute with his ninth goal of the season. Tino Kadewere continued his fine form in front of goal by doubling Lyon’s lead, and the Brazilian international star, Lucas Paqueta, completed the scoring.
Lyon are now unbeaten in 14 games, and have won nine of their last 11 matches. Nantes, who still had Patrick Collot in interim charge at the Groupama Stadium, are without a win in eight matches.
Yilmaz gets Lille winner
Lille continued their relentless form as Burak Yilmaz struck late to give them victory at the Stade de la Mosson after Montpellier had twice come from behind. Yusuf Yazici helped on a Domagoj Bradaric ball for Yilmaz to net his ninth Lille goal with four minutes remaining to keep Christophe Galtier’s side neck and neck with Lyon.
Before that, Timothy Weah had given Lille the lead midway through the first half and Jonathan Ikoné got their second goal from a penalty. Twice Montpellier drew level, first through Gaëtan Laborde and then through Andy Delort, but they could not recover after Yilmaz made it 3-2.
PSG ease past Strasbourg...in the end
Reigning champions PSG remain just one point off the pace after easing to a 4-0 win over RC Strasbourg Alsace at the Parc des Princes, despite the ongoing absence of Neymar Jr.
Timothée Pembélé gave the Parisians an early lead but Thomas Tuchel’s team only ran away with the game in the closing stages, scoring three times in the last 11 minutes. Kylian Mbappé got the home side’s second of the night with his 12th Ligue 1 Uber Eats goal of the campaign. Idrissa Gana Gueye and Moise Kean then both came off the bench to grab further goals, with Kean now on seven league goals since signing on loan from Everton.
Marseille beaten
Olympique de Marseille lost further ground on the top three as André Villas-Boas’s stumbling side went down 2-1 away at Angers SCO. Mathias Pereira Lage and Loïs Diony both found the net as the home side raced into a two-goal lead midway through the first half at the Stade Raymond-Kopa.
Dimitri Payet then missed a penalty in the second half for OM, and while Valentin Rongier did pull one back shortly after, they could not take anything from the game. Marseille end the calendar year with just one point taken from a possible nine in their last three matches. They continue to hold two games in hand on the teams above them but they are now eight points off top spot and have slipped to fifth, behind Stade Rennais FC.
Wednesday’s other late game was an eventful one, as ten-man AS Monaco came back to draw 2-2 with AS Saint-Etienne at the Stade Louis II.
Monaco draw with 10 men
Sofiane Diop gave Monaco an early lead in the principality, only for captain Mathieu Debuchy to head the away side back level midway through the first half. The game had been turned on its head when Denis Bouanga converted a penalty awarded after he had been pulled down in the box by Guillermo Maripan (29’).
Monaco’s hopes of taking anything from the game were then severely hit when teenage midfielder Eliot Matazo was sent off before half-time for a challenge on Bouanga. The Belgian was initially cautioned, but yellow was upgraded to red after a VAR review.
Gelson Martins squared for Kevin Volland to equalise early in the second half as Niko Kovac’s side escaped with a point, and they edge back up to sixth on goal difference, above RC Lens and Montpellier on goal difference.
