Lille extends Ligue 1 lead after Monaco’s draw

After 29 games, Lille is topping the French Ligue 1 table despite drawing 0-0 with Monaco on the weekend.

This is following the shocking 2-1 loss suffered by defending champions Paris Saint-Germain against Nantes over the weekend. This gives them a three-point gap in the standings as PSG and Lyon are joint second and third respectively with 60 points.

Olympique Lyon had to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw with Reims, while Jorge Sampaoli’sOlympique Marseille made it two straight wins with a 3-1 beating of Brest.

LOSC would have taken maximum points against fourth-placed Monaco at Stade Louis II if the best efforts of a dangerous-looking Timothy Weah had beaten Mike Maignan, who made some stellar saves. This is their 16th clean sheet of the season.

Reacting to the outcome, Thierry Oleksiak, the assistant manager to Christophe Galtier, who is serving in his place due to a touchline ban, pointed that Lille is yet to play the decisive games.

This means they can still lose the title. The assistant manager pointed that doing well in the important games will help their course.

He lauded the squad for its quality in competing for the top prize in the country, adding that such means the team can fight until the end to make it count.

In the other game, PSG would have capitalized on Lille’s goalless outing at Monaco, but goals from Randal KoloMuani and Moses Simon canceled out through Julian Draxler’s effort at the Parc des Princes. This is their first defeat to Nantes in 18 years at the Parc.

Excited about the win, Nantes coach Antoine Kombouaré noted that a team languishing in the relegation zone losing 1-0 in the first half complicated its matters further.

While describing PSG’s goal as a real kick in the teeth, the gaffer had to remobilize his lads, and they came out of the second half with real mental strength and quality in their play to score d two goals from open play.

PSG manager pointed out that his team missed the opportunity to continue pushing for the title.
While noting that his lad made a good start in the second half, they had the chance to double their lead but failed to do so before Nante equalized.

The game became more open, and the host struggled as they weren’t strong enough to win.

Written by: OladipupoMojeed