Paris (AFP)
Both beaten in the Champions League, Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain reacted on Saturday in Lorient (1-0) and against Dijon (4-0) in Ligue 1, PSG taking the lead before the end of the 8th day, amputated from Lens-Nantes on Sunday due to pandemic.
The Covid-19 is indeed back on the lawns of Ligue 1, with this first match postponed since August, due to 11 players tested positive in the Lensois workforce on the eve of the meeting initially scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. .
Elsewhere in Ligue 1, matches are supposed to be held despite the increasingly threatening figures of the virus, and two of them gave birth to logical results on Saturday for PSG and OM, results especially demanded after two inaugural defeats in C1 in the middle of the week.
For the Marseillais, picked on the field of Olympiakos Wednesday in Greece (1-0), the case was difficult to seal in the Breton gusts.
But defender Leonardo Balerdi found the loophole, to reassure his coach André Villas-Boas before the reception on Tuesday of Manchester City in the Champions League.
"It's a very good collective performance, offensively and defensively," said the Portuguese, whose team is back in 4th place.
- Doubles for Kean and Mbappé -
The Parisians also had to be reassured, after Tuesday's stinging setback against Manchester United (2-1) and at the heart of a period of mistrust concerning coach Thomas Tuchel.
Against the red lantern of the championship, Dijon, the slew of injured PSG did not handicap the champion club of France, serious throughout the meeting with a decisive Neymar four days before a perilous European trip to Basaksehir in Istanbul .
The new Italian striker Moise Kean was able to score his first goal in this jersey just three minutes after the start of the match marked by the emotional tribute to Samuel Paty, the history professor beheaded in the middle of the street there is a week.
He even signed a brace 20 minutes later, well served by Neymar.
And Kylian Mbappé, preserved for 70 minutes, had time to score his 5th 6th goals of the season to position himself at the top of the scorers standings and ensure PSG 1st place in the standings, one point ahead of Lille and three in front of Rennes, beaten Friday by Angers (2-1).
Le Losc, the only French club to win the European Cup this week (4-1 at Sparta Prague on Thursday) will have the opportunity to resume their place on Sunday on the Nice pitch (5:00 p.m.), just before the Lyon-Monaco duel ( 9:00 p.m.).
Throughout the weekend, in addition to tributes to Samuel Paty, a moment of meditation will be respected in memory of Bruno Martini, the former international goalkeeper who died at 58 this week.
© 2020 AFP