Tuesday, 5 February, 2019

 Olympique de Marseille 1-0 Girondins de Bordeaux 

Rudi Garcia (Marseille coach): "We weren't very scared at the end. We should have scored a second goal, but their goalkeeper made the saves in the first half to deny us. In the second half, we were less dangerous. But it's a deserved win, achieved without six first-team regulars. It was a performance by the players on the pitch, and I had told you I had faith in those players. We were the only teams playing tonight, so the three points are welcome. But it must be just the start of a run. Three points is good, but it's not enough. We have to go and win at Dijon."

Éric Bedouet (Bordeaux coach): "There was an attitude that disgusted us, disgusted the board, but that wasn't the case here. At least the players didn't give up. I can't criticise them, they fought to get back into the game, and they could have done that."

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

FC Nantes 2 - 0 Montpellier Hérault SC

Vahid Halilhodzic (FC Nantes coach): "We had a few difficulties. We started well and created two or three opportunities to score, but after a red card, there is often a bit of a blockage. Our opponents played deep and compact and we didn't co-ordinate our movements. But you have to know that for a lot of the lads it was the first match of the year and they lacked rhythm. But then I changed our system and our game became much quicker. We scored two absolutely deserved goals and congratulations to my players on a great win."

Michel Der Zakarian (Montpellier HSC coach): "The red card [for Gaëtan Laborde, 19'] really hamstrung us, as he's an important player. We had a pretty good start and after the red card, even though they had the ball and some chances, they didn't really threaten until they scored. We were out of position and when you're a man down, it's complicated. Since the beginning of December, we have only won in Monaco. We need more cutting edge."

Amiens SC  0 - 0  Angers SCO

Christophe Pélissier (Amiens SC coach): "I'm ambivalent. There is pride in what the lads achieved; they stepped up tactically and I feel that we had the upper hand on the match. But there is also disappointment and frustration because we couldn't find a winner. But I think we're on the right track, and if we continue to turn in performance like tonight's, we will surely be rewarded."

Stéphane Moulin (Angers SCO coach): "It's a somewhat miraculous point we took tonight. That's for all the times we deserved points and didn't get them. Tonight, Amiens would have been deserved winners. We have our 'keeper Ludovic Butelle to thank for some decisive saves. He earned us this point. This was the first time this season we have been so wide of the mark. It was our worst match of the season; we couldn't have played much more poorly."

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

 SM Caen 2-1 Toulouse FC 

Fabien Mercadal (Caen coach): "The match was tough and it was the best possible scenario to give us energy. We brought on lads to try to provoke things and to try to turn things around and that's what happened with young Evens. We're alive and we'd already shown that at Strasbourg. We've managed to build on that point we took away from home and the win is good for the whole stadium. The fans deserve it and we deserve it."

Alain Casanova (Toulouse coach): "When you're beaten in the last few seconds like that it is cruel even if we didn't play the match we said we would. We had trouble getting into the game and allowed them to gain confidence in themselves. We had a bit of luck just before half-time but we were too speculative in the second half. We wanted to hold onto the result and the only people we should be angry with are ourselves."

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Olympique Lyonnais  3 - 0  AS Monaco

Bruno Genesio (Olympique Lyonnais coach): "I'm happy with the win but above all our attitude and the way we played. We made the job easy for ourselves. This match was one of our very best of the season in Ligue 1 Conforama. What was different for us tonight was the fact that we stayed serious, concentrated and committed right to the final whistle. We kept on playing for each other and really striving hard, and that was something a little bit new."

Thierry Henry (AS Monaco coach): "I'm really annoyed, because you can't just lose like that. Tonight we did the same thing we did against Dortmund [a 2-0 home loss on UEFA Champions League matchday 6]. We were up against a quality side and Lyon played a good match, but for the first goal we gave them possession back for free. And Aleksandr Golovin got a red card, which made things even tougher. We'll do our best to turn the page on this match, as we have a huge match coming up against Guingamp [Week 19's relegation six-pointer in Ligue 1 Conforama on Sunday]."

 Nîmes Olympique  2 - 3  LOSC 

Bernard Blaquart (Nîmes coach): "Lille are not where they are by chance. This was maybe too big a step for us, but we were not far away from getting something. The result could have perhaps been different, but conceding after five minutes made it difficult for us. Lille are a model team in terms of how they counter-attack - we knew that, but they really are formidable in that regard. And after the Paris forward line, Pépé and Bamba are the best out there. I always believed, but if I am to have any regrets it is with our start. Our second goal came too late, but if Clément Depres had equalised the roof would have come off the stadium."

Christophe Galtier (Lille coach): "What a match. I am really proud of my players. It is a great victory. Nîmes had been the best team in the league over the last five games, so to win here is a great performance. Our attitude and the way we played when down to 10 men were beyond reproach. Despite the sending-off of our captain, we hung on in there and scored two more goals. I never thought at 3-0 that we had the game in the bag - I knew a goal could get Nîmes back in it. If we are lucky enough to get to 37 points at the halfway stage it would be exceptional given what happened last season."

 OGC Nice  1 - 1  AS Saint-Etienne 

Patrick Vieira (Nice coach): "I was pleased with the positive spirit shown by the team. To be behind and to push to get the equaliser is positive. We deserved better in the last half-hour. Going forward we were much more dangerous than in our last match. In recent games we have had between five and 10 shots on goal, but today we had more than 20. We are progressing. We need to keep working hard to score more goals. Overall it was a good game with two good goalkeepers. It could have been 2-2 or 3-3, but we are frustrated given the way we ended the match."

Jean-Louis Gasset (Saint-Etienne coach): "We would have taken a point before the game. But having been 1-0 up, and with 11 against 10, with two or three saves from the Nice goalkeeper, we could have won it. We have ended a run of defeats at Lyon and Bordeaux, despite playing well in both those games. We played well here too. We were solid at the back and we created chances to score and got one goal, so it was a fair point. Now we will try to build on this when we play Dijon at home next Saturday. That would see us finish the first half of the season with 30 points with a game in hand. That would be not bad."

Saturday, December 15, 2018

 Stade de Reims 2-1 RC Strasbourg Alsace 

David Guion (Reims coach): "Every win's important to us. I want my players to savour every victory. This one was beautiful, and well deserved. We had complete control in this match. It's about more than just the points; we have the mind-set that we belong in Ligue 1 Conforama. I no longer need to remind the players that that's the case!"

Thierry Laurey (Strasbourg coach): "Reims simply had more heart and commitment. We were too wasteful in the first half but it was tough to adjust to the pitch. The players said after the warm up that it was slippery. But Reims' first goal still came from a mistake as we left a player unmarked at the edge of the box. We thought we'd done the hard part by equalising in the second half but then we conceded. We hoped to draw but we couldn't hold on."