Olympique Marseille claimed their first Ligue 1 home win of the New Year as they edged Bordeaux 1-0. The game was played behind closed doors, with OM victorious thanks to Boubacar Kamara’s 42nd minute strike.

Victory for Bordeaux could’ve seen them draw level on points with Marseille, but they were always going to find things tough at the Velodrome after having Salomon Kalou sent off midway through the first half.

The win lifts Rudi Garcia’s Marseille to 7th in the league table, just three points off fourth placed Saint-Etienne. As for Bordeaux, it was their third straight defeat in the space of 10 days, having lost twice to Strasbourg (once in the league, once in the Cup) prior to this clash.

The win was Marseille’s first league victory at home since early November, when they beat Dijon 2-0.

OM’s next game is at home to Amiens, while Bordeaux have a tough away clash at the Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain.

Two Ligue 1 based players have been named in Gazzetta’s European Team of the Week for games played in the first week of February.

Reims goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and Lille forward Nicolas Pepe, who has often been linked with a move to Europe’s biggies, are the two French based players in the XI. Interestingly enough, Mendy did not find a spot in local paper L’Equipe’s team of the week, with Lyon’s Anthony Lopes named ahead of him.

The team, which excludes Serie A players, also has three Bundesliga representatives (Orban, Brandt, Finnbogason), three from the Premier League (Dendoncker, Hazard and Aguero), two from Spain (Pulido and Canales) and one from the Eredivisie (Luuk de Jong)

Three Olympique Lyon players have been named in Ligue 1’s team of the week. OL beat Paris SG 2-1 over the weekend, handing the latter their first ever league defeat of the 2018/19 season, and that fine result has seen goalkeeper Anthony Lopes and forward Moussa Dembele being named by L’Equipe in their XI for this game week. OL coach Bruno Genesio was also chosen as the paper’s Manager of the Week.

Cesc Fabregas scored his first goal for Monaco over the weekend, thus helping ASM win at Stade Louis II for the first time in Ligue 1 this season. It’s earned Fabregas a TOTW nomination along with club mate Alexandre Golovine.

PSG normally dominate the list, but don’t have a single representative this week.

The most number of players come from Lille, who beat Nice 4-0. Goal scorers Nicolas Pepe and Jonathan Bamba find a mention, as does left back Youssuf Kone. Reims’ stunning 2-1 win over Marseille sees them have representatives in the form of central defender Yunis Abdelhamid and attacker Tristan Dingome.

Ligue 1 Team of the Week: Lopes (Lyon); Zeffane (Rennes), Hilton (Montpellier), Abdelhamid (Reims), Kone (Lille); Pepe (Lille), Golovine and Fabregas (both Monaco), Dingome (Reims), Bamba (Lille), Dembele (Lyon) Continue reading →

Cesc Fabregas scored his first goal in Monaco colours as ASM beat Toulouse 2-1 at Stade Louis II- their first home league win of the 18/19 season. The game saw Toulouse’s Christopher Jullien cancel out Golovin’s opener, but Fabregas’ 62nd minute goal, assisted by Radamel Falcao, saw ASM register a rare win. The victory also ended the Principality outfit’s run of four straight defeats across all competitions.

Monaco are now 18th in the table with 18 points, level on points with Caen, but below them on goal difference. Their next clash is an away one against Montpellier.

Fabregas played the full 90 for Monaco against TFC, with a crowd of 5,896 present to watch him score his maiden ASM goal.

We’re almost halfway through the Ligue 1 season (almost because some games have been postponed owing to the “yellow vest” protests). PSG appear to be cantering towards another title, but how are their rivals faring? Let’s take a look at how Ligue 1 looks at Christmas. Continue reading →