Paris (AFP)

Royal week for Lyon, winner of the derby against Saint-Etienne on Sunday (2-0) after dropping Juventus; week to the taste of Europe for Lille, solid in Nantes (1-0) and still in the race for the Champions League after the 27th day of Ligue 1.

The recommendations taken in the face of the intensification of the epidemic of new coronavirus in France having only slightly modified the behavior of the matches of the weekend, it is well in front of some 50,000 spectators that OL could celebrate its success in the 120th derby in history. Not without some scares in the second half, where two goals from Lyon were refused after using video assist at refereeing, for a hand by Lucas Tousart and a passive offside by Moussa Dembélé ...

But, as in C1 against Turin Wednesday (1-0), Bruno Guimaraes and Tousart excelled, and Lyon also shone in L1, once is not custom after several disappointing performances for its most demanding supporters.

It must be said that ASSE was surely one of the most fragile prey of the moment, because of the numerous injuries undermining the workforce of Claude Puel and the lack of confidence of the Greens, who only took one point on 18 possible, series in progress, in the championship and are threatened more than ever by the barragiste, Nîmes, placed only two points behind "Sainté".

But a victory in a derby remains unique, especially after a first leg lost by OL in the last seconds. The joy of double goalscorer Dembélé, author of his 11th and 12th goals in 2020 in all competitions, testifies to this.

The accounting operation is beautiful for OL, which had struggled until then to keep alive its chances of qualifying for a European competition: here it is fifth, seven points from the podium.

"That’s what we’re doing right now, we’re playing, we’re solid too, we’ve not taken a goal for three games. I’m happy for the players, they deserve it and we’ll continue to whip” satisfied trainer Rudi Garcia at the microphone of Canal +.

- Lille is in the race -

Between Rennes, 3rd, and Lyon, there is however a serious candidate. Thanks to a goal from Benjamin André, and after a well-controlled encounter in Nantes, Lille has indeed proven that it is keeping pace with Europe.

The Northerners remain 4th with 46 points, only one length behind the third, Rennes, and widen their gap with the fifth, Montpellier (40 pts). For its part, Nantes remains in the middle of the table (11th, 37 pts), a week after dropping Olympique de Marseille at the Vélodrome stadium (3-1).

In the fight for European places, Bordeaux and Nice had the opportunity to still believe in it, but their draw on Sunday undoubtedly extinguished some of the hopes.

Fortunately for the Niçois that Adam Ounas had a flash of genius to equalize a sumptuous acrobatic turnaround, without which defeat threatened the men of Patrick Vieira, new eighth in the ranking with 38 points.

The Girondins are 12th, two lengths from their evening opponents. Far too far from the leading pack, led by OM, winner Friday in Nîmes (3-2) thanks to a hat-trick from Dario Benedetto, and Rennes, victorious in Toulouse Saturday (2-0).

Even further ahead, Paris SG led the way ten days before their Champions League return match against Dortmund. And reassured himself by strangling Dijon (4-0), Saturday. Next step ... the Coupe de France, against Lyon, in the semi-final on Wednesday.

Full results of the 27th day:

Friday

Nîmes - Marseille 2 - 3

Saturday

Paris SG - Dijon 4 - 0

Montpellier - Strasbourg 3 - 0

Amiens - Metz 0 - 1

Brest - Angers 0 - 1

Toulouse - Rennes 0 - 2

Monaco - Reims 1 - 1

Sunday

Nantes - Lille 0 - 1

Bordeaux - Nice 1 - 1

Lyon - Saint-Etienne 2 - 0

© 2020 AFP