Paris (AFP)

In front of empty stands, Nantes filled up: the Canaries went to beat Saint-Etienne 2-0 behind closed doors on Sunday in Ligue 1, a first for them in Forez since 2000. They are fourth ahead of Lille, who succumbed to Dijon (1-0).

- Nantes defeats the Indian sign in Saint-Etienne -

Twenty years since Nantes no longer won at Geoffroy-Guichard! With skill, the team of Christian Gourcuff put a spell on this black series Sunday afternoon during the 20th day of L1.

In front of the empty stands of all the supporters due to the massive use of smoke by ultra-Stéphanois, Nantes was not disturbed by the strange atmosphere of the meeting, nor by the injury to warm-up of referee Benoît Bastien, replaced at short notice by the fourth referee Anthony Ustaritz.

In the first period, Mehdi Abeid opened the scoring with a clear shot in the area (23rd), then Ludovic Blas made the mark heavier by catapulting a center behind Moses Simon (48th).

This victory, the first of the Canaries in Forez since November 2000, brings the Nantais (32 pts) only a small point behind third place occupied by Stade Rennes (3rd, 33 pts), beaten 1-0 by Marseille (2nd , 41 pts) Friday evening.

For Saint-Etienne, on the other hand, it is a fourth defeat in a row in L1, the worst series since 2011. The Greens have won only once in the last seven days and with 25 points, they stagnate at a worrying 15th position, far from European places ...

- Lille fall against Dijon, head cutter -

After Paris SG, after Rennes, Dijon offered a new scalp among the big guys in Ligue 1: Lille went to bow 1-0 at the Gaston-Gérard stadium, not without having progressed in numerical superiority for more than 40 minutes.

The Northerners however thought they were able to crack the Burgundians, quickly reduced to ten with the exclusion of Hamza Mendyl (21st) for a sole lifted up to the ribs of Luiz Araujo.

But they did not take advantage of it, coming up against the excellent goalkeeper Alfred Gomis, who sickened the Lille attackers. Worse, it was Dijon who opened the scoring on the return from the locker room on a strong strike from Julio Tavares (47th), author of his 4th goal of the season in Ligue 1.

And things got tougher for Lille when Boubakary Soumaré was excluded in turn (67th): even dominating, the Losc never managed to return to the score and conceded its second defeat in a row in L1. Not really reassuring before receiving PSG on January 26 ...

Conversely, Dijon breathes a little better: the Burgundian club had not won in the league since November 23! He climbed back to 16th place, four points ahead of the roadblocker.

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