Before a gala meeting between the Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at the Parc des Princes (8:45 p.m.), several strongholds of French football were on stage in the first part of this rainy Sunday. This was the case for Nice, traveling to Montpellier. Still weighed down by injuries, the Riviera club had to settle for a parity score against the bottom of Ligue 1 (2-2).
The Aiglons nevertheless took the lead thanks to goals from Laborde – formerly of La Paillade (0-1, 18th), and Bouanani (1-2, 28th). But this time the MHSC found the resources not to sink, equalizing twice through Chotard (1-1, 22nd) and Sainte-Luce (2-2, 80th). Nice remains sixth.
A Rennes with two faces
A little later in the day, three teams carried out an excellent operation for the latter before the holidays. Jorge Sampaoli’s Stade Rennais is definitely connected to alternating current since it collected its second success in four matches, winning in a western duel against Angers (2-0). Gronbaek (1-0, 33rd) and Assignon at the end of the match (2-0, 90th+1) were the Breton scorers. Rennes will spend Christmas in twelfth place, Angers is fifteenth.
Strasbourg crushes Le Havre
A soft underbelly in which we also find Strasbourg. The Alsatian club finally put in a convincing performance away from home, with a clean and flawless victory against Le Havre (3-0). Diarra (0-1, 28th) and Nanasi (0-2, 32nd) quickly sheltered the Alsatian club, before Santos sealed this victory at the end of the match (0-3, 90th). Seventeenth, the HAC is plunged into the red zone.
Brest makes Nantes relapse
Finally, Brest completed a dream week by largely dominating its neighbor Nantes (4-1). Doumbia (1-0, 24th), Chardonnet (2-0, 27th) and Sima twice (3-1, 88th; 4-1, 90th+1) took care of their statistics in this one-sided match, where the reduction of the Canaries’ score by Douglas Auguston (2-1, 48th) will have been nothing but an illusion. Eleventh, Brest gives itself some breathing room. Nantes is fourteenth and is preparing to experience a turbulent truce behind the scenes…