Denis Zakaria got the opening goal and in-form Aleksandr Golovin also struck as Monaco won 2-0 at home to Brest on Sunday to move into provisional second place in the table; Junya Ito scored the only goal of the game as Reims won at Nantes to send Will Still's men fourth.
THE MATCH
Beaten at Lille last time out, Monaco knew a win would take them into second place in the table, a point behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain and ahead of Côte d'Azur rivals Nice before their game along the coast against Rennes later in the day.
Brest had lost their last two - albeit to Lille and PSG - and had seen their Stade Francis Le Blé devastated by Storm Ciaran in midweek. The visitors from Brittany were clearly enjoying the Mediterranean sunshine, however, and thought they had gone ahead early on but Jérémy Le Douaron's strike was ruled out by VAR, who spotted a Pierre Lees-Melou foul on Folarin Balogun in the build-up (11').
There was no such reprieve for Eric Roy's men when Golovin sent a corner over and Zakaria got to the ball ahead of goalkeeper Marco Bizot to head home (16') his first Ligue 1 Uber Eats goal.
VAR also decided a Krépin Diatta challenge on Le Douaron did not warrant a spot-kick (20') before Balogun then had a strike ruled out for offside (25') and Lilian Brassier was denied at the opposite end for the same reason (27') as the officials were the busiest people on the pitch.
Another Brest penalty claim for a Diatta foul on Le Douaron was waved away once more before the Brest forward was forced off the pitch through injury before the break (41') to blunt the visitors' attack.
Golovin took matters into his own hands to put Monaco firmly in control with 21 minutes left. Youssouf Fofana brought the ball down smartly on the right before cutting the ball back to Golovin, who fired home his fifth league goal of the season to give Fofana his third assist of the campaign (69').
Only Monaco (6 times) had come back from a goal down to get points more than Brest (4) this season, and Roy's men did still not know they were beaten. Brendan Chardonnet headed off a post (71') and Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn then turned a Lees-Melou effort onto the bar (77'), but Brassier was sent off for a second bookable offence late on (90') as Adi Hütter's men rode out the storm to pick up a fifth home win in six league outings in the principality this season.
THE PLAYER: Aleksandr Golovin
Golovin has now been involved in six goals against Brest, his highest tally against an individual Ligue 1 Uber Eats opponent. The Russia international's energy, set-piece precision and powerful shot make him a valuable asset for Monaco.
THE STAT: 14
The handful of Brest fans that made the trip to the principality faced one of the longest domestic journeys for a game in Europe: 1460 kilometres (907 miles), or some 14 hours of driving.
Japan international Ito was the difference for Reims at Nantes as Still's men moved into fourth place and onto 20 points, the club's best tally at this stage of a top-flight season since 1974/75, despite their coach being confined to the stands due to suspension and with Still's younger brother, Nicolas, on the touchline. Ito struck 15 minutes from time, the 20th goal Nantes have conceded this term - their worst tally in 56 top-flight seasons.
Le Havre moved into the top half of the table and left Toulouse in trouble thanks to Mohamed Bayo's brace that came inside the closing eight minutes. The on-loan Lille forward first cancelled out Thijs Dallinga's opener (49') that came after the Toulouse forward had missed a late first-half penalty. Bayo then struck a minute into added time to give the Normandy visitors a third league win of the campaign, and a first away from home in eight attempts across the top two divisions.
Marvin Senaya was sent off with 14 minutes to go but Strasbourg hung on to claim a point at home to Clermont. Patrick Vieira's side are now without a win in five league games while Clermont remain second-from-bottom despite claiming a 25th point away from home this calendar year, the fifth-best tally in the division.
