Paris (AFP)

Marseille and Saint-Etienne succeeded in their first steps in Ligue 1 this season, by winning respectively in Brest (3-2) and against Lorient (2-0), while Jonathan Bamba relieved the Lille in Reims (1- 0), during the 2nd day of Ligue 1, Sunday.

Nice is the only club with two victories on the clock after its success in Strasbourg on Saturday night (2-0).

The Aiglons still occupy the head of an L1 ranking truncated by the various postponements, consequences of the presence of Paris and Lyon in the Final 8 of the Champions League in Lisbon, and cases of Covid-19 detected in several clubs.

Florian Thauvin tasted his first tenure with Olympique de Marseille since May 2019. Injured to his right ankle in the summer of 2019, the midfielder came back too quickly and could only play ten minutes at the start of the season 2019/20 before being operated. His last full match was in June 2019, with the Blues in Andorra.

Sunday in Brest, "Flotov" opened the scoring with a curled shot at the entrance to the area, with a little luck since the ball, slightly deflected, lobbed the Brest goalkeeper Gautier Larsonneur.

The 2018 world champion, who played the 90 minutes, was also involved in Marseille's second goal, as he delivered a perfect free kick assist for Duje Caleta Car.

After a preparation turned upside down by several cases of Covid-19, the OM of André Vilas-Boas suffered in the second half, played at a very high pace. The Brestois, who had reduced the score by Romain Faivre just before the break, missed many opportunities to equalize in the last half hour.

The Marseillais did not ask for so much, and Thauvin, still with his surgical left foot on a free kick, found the head of Caleta Car to fold the meeting.

The Stéphanois also did not miss their first meeting, and can thank Romain Hamouma. With a superb shot curled at the entrance to the penalty area, he found the opposite window to deceive Paul Nardi, the Lorient goalkeeper after a quarter of an hour of play.

He then doubled the lead in the second half, and allowed Claude Puel's men, finalists in the Coupe de France at the end of July against Paris SG, to win against the Merlus.

- First victory for Kovac -

Held in check last week at home against Rennes, Lille has completely mastered its subject in Reims, winning thanks to a dry strike from Jonathan Bamba at the half-hour mark.

After a complicated 2019/20 season (only one goal in 28 league matches), Bamba seems to be regaining his colors, he who scored the Dogues goal against Rennes seven days ago.

For his second match on the bench of Monaco, Niko Kovac was able to breathe, thanks to a success (1-0) on the lawn of Metz, thanks to a realization of Benoit Badiashile.

At La Beaujoire, Nantes was reduced to nine against eleven in the last minutes of the match against Nîmes, but managed to keep its lead on the wire (2-1), to sign its first victory of the season, after the inaugural draw in Bordeaux (0-0).

As for Lorient and Nîmes, the weekends follow one another but are not alike for Angers, winner last week but defeated at home by Bordeaux on Sunday (2-0).

Results of the 2nd day:

Friday

Lyon - Dijon 4 - 1

Saturday

Rennes - Montpellier 2 - 1

Strasbourg - Nice 0 - 2

Sunday

Reims - Lille 0 - 1

Metz - Monaco 0 - 1

Nantes - Nîmes 2 - 1

Angers - Bordeaux 0 - 2

Saint-Etienne - Lorient 2 - 0

Brest - Marseille 2 - 3

Thursday, September 10

(9 p.m.) Lens - Paris SG

© 2020 AFP