OM boss André Villas-Boas was a happy coach after the dramatic 4-3 win in Monaco but. Like opposite number and compatriot Leonardo Jardim, the Portuguese had concern about his defence.
Sunday, 15 September
AS Monaco 3-4 Olympique de Marseille
Leonardo Jardim (AS Monaco coach): "The lads controlled the match for 30 minutes. Then, at 2-1, the players panicked. The opponent reacted and scored twice. In the second half, the opposing team was confident. We came back after 4-2, but it was too late. For the spectators, it was an interesting game, a good game. But not for us. We've made a lot of mistakes. This season, we've already conceded 14 goals. We need to stay stronger. We need to resolve the defensive issue. We need to be better, we need to be tougher in the challenge and make more impact. It's about organisation, not players. OM? They're a good team, close to last year's, with a striker who scores a lot. They were also a bit lucky tonight."
André Villas-Boas (Olympique de Marseille coach): "Conceding three goals is not always good for a coach because you like to be well organised and have a good defensive base. But it must have been fun for the spectators and I'm very happy for my players. We played with courage. We found the spaces well. We played good football. It makes the victory even more beautiful. We're climbing the rankings, it's good for the confidence."
FC Nantes 1-0 Stade de Reims
David Guion (Reims coach): "I don't think we did much wrong. It's not easy to win in Ligue 1 and you don't come to Nantes with the points in the bag. Marseille couldn't score here either. There were two very different halves. The first was a bit ugly from both sides, and a second where both teams showed more initiative. We had a good chance through Rémy Oudin, but from there the team that defended better won."
Christian Gourcuff (Nantes coach): "It's much nicer to be near the top of the table because it has a good impact on team spirit. I don't to forecast what we can achieve this season but we have to stay clear in our thoughts and I think we can still improve. We knew it would be a tough match against a difficult opponent. Also, the heat today didn't help the speed of the game."
AS Saint-Etienne 2-2 Toulouse FC
Ghislain Printant (Saint-Etienne coach): "It was a great game for the fans. There were goals. But we're frustrated because we prepared ourselves for victory. We made mistakes but we were strong enough to fight back. VAR was particularly important in denying three goals, one from Toulouse and two of ours."
Alain Casanova (Toulouse coach): "We're very frustrated. We could have made it 3-0 before half-time but instead it was 2-1. At the end of the day Saint-Etienne could have won this game so I'm also relieved. I really enjoyed my team's attacking intent. It was also entertaining seeing Saint-Etienne battle back. I would've preferred to have won but we'll settle for the draw. This was our most intense game of the season so far. This is still a phase of learning for our young team."
Saturday 14 September
Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 RC Strasbourg Alsace
Thomas Tuchel (PSG coach): "Strasbourg are a physical team and it's always difficult to find space against them. We didn't play our best game but we gave everything. It's never easy to play after the international break and before the Champions League. I'm not worried at all. We turned up and we won. That may be even better than winning easily. [Neymar] was good but he can play better, dribbling and accelerating more. But he needs a few matches to find his pace, his physical ability and to speed up our game. I'm happy with what he did in the last minute [Neymar scored an overhead kick winner]. It helps a lot."
Thierry Laurey (Strasbourg): "We played how we had to, cutting Paris off and using our possession well. We even had some good chances in the first half. It's frustrating and cruel [to have lost] but there wasn't much we could do about it. If you leave them any space they'll exploit it. But I'm very proud of my players, they did what was expected of them. [Keylor] Navas made two top quality saves. We must rebound knowing that we don't have to play PSG every week!"
Girondins de Bordeaux 2-0 FC Metz
Paulo Sousa (Bordeaux coach): "The three points were better than the performance. We made a good start but ran out of gas after 20 minutes. We only tried to counter-attack and gave up a lot of control of the game. The only thing I'm happy about is that we kept a clean sheet. They got close to our goal but Laurent [Koscielny]'s experience made the difference. We still have to work hard to instil a fighting spirit. It takes time."
Vincent Hognon (Metz coach): "We need to improve our concentration and play well from the first whistle. We maybe didn't give enough respect to what a Ligue 1 game requires. In three of our games we've been trailing 2-0 by the interval and we have to improve on this. We tried things, got near their box, we knew how to give them problems. I'm not sure many teams will be able to do that here."
Stade Brestois 29 0-0 Stade Rennais FC
Olivier Dall'Oglio (Brest coach): "It was an intense derby. I'm quite proud of the players. We started well and were physically strong, which isn't easy in a match like that. [Rennes] have good, technical players. They're at the top end of the table and I think they'll stay there, so it's still a really good performance from us."
Julien Stéphan (Rennes coach): "I'm a bit disappointed by the result. We weren't aggressive enough. But we have 10 of a possible 15 points. With PSG top we're still in second. I would've taken that at the start of the season. We must regroup now. The players are naturally frustrated because they did enough to win. We have to put that out of our minds now and focus on the next game [against Celtic in the Europa League on Thursday]."
Dijon FCO 0-0 Nîmes Olympique
Stéphane Jobard (Dijon coach): "Despite taking a point we're frustrated because we had chances to win. In Ligue 1 you must score. It's also the first time this season that we kept a clean sheet. We were strong at the back even if we had some dangerous situations to deal with. I don't have much to hold against my players. They were too timid in the first have but put that right in the second. We just couldn't find the final touch."
Bernard Blaquart (Nîmes coach): "It can't have been the easiest game to watch but for us it's a very good point. We didn't show much going forward but we held out at the back because of our team spirit. Some players were missing, others arrived back late from international duty. It takes more than five minutes for everything to fall back into place. This result, given how we played, is ok."
Montpellier Hérault SC 2-1 OGC Nice
Michel Der Zakarian (Montpellier coach): "It was a good match from both teams and could easily have ended 4-2. We played really well in the first half and deserved to be further ahead, even if Nice had chances of their own. We're very happy with this victory. When we create chances like this I'm not worried. We're moving in the right direction. We played well against a good Nice team. We won the ball back and then used it well. This is the kind of match we want to give the fans."
Patrick Vieira (Nice coach): "We had a gameplan to challenge them but leave defeated, and that hurts. We had good chances and could've equalised. We could've at least earned a point. We lack a bit of experience but there were some encouraging things. Our new players did well, gelled with the team, but it was a bit tough for them physically. [Kasper] Dolberg ended up very tired, Adam Ounas too. We have to give them time. There were some very encouraging moments, though."
Friday 13 September
LOSC 2-1 Angers SCO
Christophe Galtier (Lille coach): "I expected that kind of game. They're a side that has had a very good start to the season, but I think if we reproduce the same end to the game if we're leading 2-0 at Ajax on Tuesday, we'll lose. It's always difficult to win these games, after the international break, with a lot of players who weren't there, some of whom came back during the night of Wednesday to Thursday. I had to make choices based on their fatigue and the risk of injury. My players had done the hard part in leading 2-0, breaking down the Angers defence and not giving them too many opportunities, but by the 86th-minute, the match should be over. Even before that if we use the ball better. And it's not due to over-confidence, but more the folly of youth or a lack of experience, and we're punished by Angers. I spoke to them about it after the game."
Stéphane Moulin (Angers coach): "I get the impression we shot ourselves in the foot, and against a side with the attacking quality they have you get punished. It's a shame. The plan was working well, they weren't finding solutions. It's a shame because I'm convinced that, and it's only normal, they weren't as fresh as they were a little while ago. They nearly all played on Tuesday so it's clear you can't be 100 per cent just three days later. Unfortunately, it was too much to make up a two-goal deficit. We tried, we changed our set-up, we tried to sow doubt in their minds because we sensed they were a little fragile. The idea was to take advantage of either their tiredness or the space which could open up in front of us. Unfortunately, the second goal ruined the plan."
Amiens SC 2-2 Olympique Lyonnais
Luka Elsner (Amiens coach): "It doesn't have the value of a win in terms of points, but in the dressing room it feels a little bit like a win. We showed great mental strength, we didn't give up. It gives us confidence in what we're trying to do. We have to build on that. We showed the sort of values that we perhaps hadn't shown over 90 minutes up to now. I felt everyone was committed, there was a real team that came together. If we had been 3-0 down at half-time, there would have been nothing to say. We were able to adjust at the break and fortunately weren't too far off them. In the second half, we showed technical quality, we filled the space better. We played a very good second half against a top quality team."
Sylvinho (Lyon coach): "I'm very disappointed, we've dropped two points here. We didn't play well in the second half and we let the victory slip, so we're very frustrated. We only played 45 minutes. A match is 90, we can't just play 45 or 60 if we want to win. It happened against Montpellier too. We started well and finished badly, and it was also the case against Bordeaux. We have to work on our attitude. We played 45 very good minutes. We played very well in the first half and could have been 3-1 up. There's no excuse for our second half. We have to be stronger mentally."
