Another superb weekend in Ligue 1 Uber Eats saw Paris Saint-Germain return to the summit, title hopefuls continue to stutter and new boys Clermont deservedly retain their place on the podium. A mixed bag of goals, red cards - on and off the pitch - and controversy made for an eventful round of fixtures with no fewer than nine teams still unbeaten!
Pochettino 'Three important points'
Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino could not hide his delight after his side won 4-2 at Brest to move top of Ligue 1 Uber Eats, even though the Parisians are still to hit top gear.
Goals from Ander Herrera (23'), Kylian Mbappé (36'), Idrissa Gueye (73') and Angel Di Maria (90'), were enough to see off the Breton outfit who themselves found the net twice through Franck Honorat (42') and Steve Mounié (85').
"The victory and the three points are important for us," said Pochettino after steering PSG to a third-straight victory. "It's important to have nine points and be at the top of the table."
PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe echoed his coach’s sentiments and conceded that it will be business as usual when the club's new recruits have settled in at the club. "Brest are a good team and one that aren't easy to play against," said the stand-in captain, deputising in the absence of Marquinhos. "It's still early days in the season and the team isn't quite complete yet. There are new players in the squad, we need to be able to take the time to adapt. The most important thing is to have won the game."
Kovac: 'Our worst game of the season'
Monaco were beaten 2-0 at home to Lens, leaving Niko Kovac’s side 19th on the table and still without a league win this season, whilst Lens coach Franck Haise welcomed his side's first three points of the season.
Despite both teams being reduced to ten men, goals from Ignatius Ganago (51') and Simon Banza (90') were enough to ensure Les Sang et Or further dampened Monaco's underwhelming start as Kovac continues to struggle to balance his side's league and European commitments.
"It was our worst game of the season," said a frustrated Kovac whose side are 1-0 down at the half-way point of their Champions League play-off tie with Shakhtar Donetsk ahead of the return leg on Wednesday night. "We have to get back to basics, the right state of mind and having passion and fight. This is what was lacking today".
Lens coach Franck Haise was proud of his side as their unbeaten start remained intact.
"It's a great victory," said Haise after Lens’ first point at Monaco for nearly a decade. "We were well organised and we defended well. Even though we conceded few a clear chances, I am happy with our performance."
Champions pick up a point
LOSC were unable to hold on to a first-half lead courtesy of Burak Yilmaz in an entertaining 1-1 at Saint Étienne.The reigning champions where humbled 4-0 against OGC Nice last weekend but reacted with a more accustomed performance at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard.
Yilmaz broke the deadlock with a curling effort (38’) to put the northern outfit in the ascendency but Les Verts got themselves level pegging late on when young defender Saidou Sow headed past new LOSC ‘keeper Ivo Grbic to earn a share of the spoils.
Despite having just two points on the board this term, LOSC coach Jocelyn Gourvennec was optimistic his side were moving in the right direction.
"We were strong throughout the game," said an upbeat Gourvennec after seeing his side put in an improved performance. "However, we dropped two valuable points and this is the most important thing, but to see us play at this level is encouraging especially after last week's defeat."
Angry Bosz slams Lyon’s frailties
Lyon coach Peter Bosz blasted his side's failure to hold on to their lead against Clermont. OL
Moussa Dembélé scored twice (5' and 21') on either side of Sinaly Diomande's own-goal to put OL 2-1 up. Lucas Paqueta superbly extended Lyon's advantage (45') to make it 3-1 before Rashani struck twice late on.
"We have lost two more points whereas with the quality we have, the game should have been over," said an aggrieved Bosz. "I saw things that you don't see in the U12s. It is a matter of trust. In the first half, it was a good performance. We imposed a very high pressing game and it worked. But I recognise that clearly there are holes in our defence.
Rennes edge derby
Rennes were able to get the better of neighbours Nantes in a hard-fought 1-0 win at Roazhon Park. New signing Baptiste Santamaria set up Martin Terrier (58’) to score the only goal of the game to claim their first three points of the season whilst condemning the visitors to their first reverse this term.
Montpellier topple Lorient
Montpellier came from behind to beat nine-man Lorient 3-1 and register their first win under new coach Olivier Dall’Oglio. Dimitry Bertaud’s own goal put Lorient ahead at the Stade de la Mosson but a second half fightback by Montpellier turned the tide with Téji Savanier (50’), Stephy Mavididi (58’) and Andy Delort (83’) all finding the target. Houboulang Mendes and Jérôme Hergault were both given their marching orders late on for the visitors.
Petkovic still without a win
Buoyed by a superb come-from-behind point at Marseille last week, Bordeaux opened the scoring through forward Sékou Mara (10’). However, in-form Angers gave as good as they got and equalised through Romain Thomas (38’) to clinch a 1-1 draw and continue their impressive start to the season under new coach Gérald Baticle. Nonetheless, Angers slip to second place in the table.
Draws at Metz and Strasbourg
Metz and Reims shared the spoils in a tense 1-1 draw at the Stade Saint-Symphorien that saw both managers sent off in the dying minutes. Both goals came early on, with Reims opening the scoring through Marshall Munetsi (7’) and Habib Maiga grabbing an equaliser for the hosts seven minutes later.
Meanwhile, Strasbourg got off the mark for the season with a draw at home to Troyes. Yoann Touzghar fired Troyes in front (19’) but the Champagne side were unable to hold on to their advantage as Adrien Thomasson levelled up for the hosts (77’).
Abandonment in Nice
Kasper Dolberg continued his excellent start to the season by putting OGC Nice a goal up against Marseille (49'). But with 15 minutes remaining, the match was temporarily abandoned due to crowd disturbances in what is a notoriously heated derby.
After much deliberation, officials decided to re-start the game. Nice successfully returned to the pitch but Marseille refused to see out the final 15 minutes, leading to a full abandonment of the match.
