Paris (AFP)

Saint-Etienne was too rough to beat Toulouse (2-2) after two defeats in a row, while Nantes went on to win a third straight win against Reims (1-0). allows to get on the podium of Ligue 1 Sunday before Monaco-Marseille (21:00).

The championship had Sunday still struggling to recover the return of Neymar, author of a goal from elsewhere for PSG against Strasbourg on Saturday at the Parc des Princes (1-0), allowing Parisians to take the lead alone .

The Brazilian has illuminated his talent all the 5th day of Ligue 1, also not enamelled, as we might fear, interruptions due to songs or banners discriminatory after a week of political debates on the fight against homophobia in the stages.

Debates between Roxana Maracineanu, Minister of Sports, Christmas Le Graët, President of the French Football Federation not favorable to the interruption of matches. And even refereed by the president Emmanuel Macron, who called for "discernment" in the week and would also, according to the JDD, sent a personal SMS support Le Graët.

- Hamouma saves "Sainté" -

But it was again to talk football on the lawn Sunday, and Saint-Etienne stammered his for a good part of the afternoon. Completely unbalanced, ASSE was punished by a Toulouse team very effective and dangerous in the image of Wesley Said and Aaron Leya Iseka, both tenured for the first time and excellent.

Fortunately for the Greens that Romain Hamouma responded with a superb double (45th, 57th), otherwise the coach Ghislain Printant, already not very serene since his promotion to a position of N.1 he has never occupied at this level, would have been projected illico in the hot seat. It is still not very far, with this 15th place and these defensive largesse, however offset by a late game or "Sainté" would have won without a goal canceled for offside after use of the video assistance.

In Nantes, the overwhelming heat on the contrary completely knocked out the 22 players. But even without shining, the people of Nantes did the work. Dominating, the Canaries relied on their Malagasy center forward Kalifa Coulibaly to blow up the lock Champagne (69th), which had yielded only once since the beginning of the season.

Nine points in nine possible on the last three outings, a place on the podium behind Paris and Rennes, "it improves the serenity and the working atmosphere," said Gourcuff, whose "leg" seems to take.

© 2019 AFP