Paris (AFP)

Lyon returned to the podium in Ligue 1 on Saturday at the expense of Monaco who played on Sunday, cracking after the break Lorient (4-1), the first non-relegation now under the threat of Nantes who overwhelmed 3-0 from Bordeaux in decay.

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Lyon puts pressure on Monaco

In the fierce race for the Champions League, OL have strong nerves!

Fallers of Monaco (3-2) in extremis last Sunday in the Principality, the Lyonnais waited for the second period on Saturday to bring Lorient to the ground, after having stumbled for a long time on goalkeeper Paul Nardi.

Not stunning this season, Houssem Aouar put OL on the rails for success (53rd) thanks to the complicity of Rayan Cherki, the Lyon hero of last weekend.

Lucas Paqueta (65th) and Bruno Guimares (71st from the penalty spot, 77th) gave more relief to this performance.

"I will try to bring the maximum to the team", commented on Canal + the first scorer Aouar, "happy to come back on the ground" and to have finally "started a match".

A dropout not long ago, Lyon was catchy on his lawn at the best time.

The team led by Rudi Garcia puts pressure on Niko Kovac's AS Monaco, two points behind before his trip to Reims on Sunday (5:05 p.m.).

For the remaining two days, OL will go to the penultimate Nîmes before receiving Nice, a team stuck in the middle of the table and which has little left to play.

For Lorient, 17th and therefore first non-relegation, it will be necessary to fight until the end not to return to Ligue 2, one year after the rise.

The current Nantes barrage has returned to only one point.

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Nantes clings to the posture

At home, the Nantes people broke the curse of Beaujoire, where they had not won since October, at the same time as the morale of the Bordelais, historic rival entangled in a nightmarish end of the season.

"Finally we win at home!" Exclaimed coach Antoine Kombouaré, called to the rescue in February to save the yellow and green house.

"I am vigilant, I know that it is fragile, it is especially necessary to keep the feet on the ground", however tempered the Kanak technician.

This third success in a row allows the FCN, still in a barrage position, to return to a point of the first non-relegation Lorient and Strasbourg, host of Montpellier on Sunday.

In the final sprint, Nantes can even hope to overtake the Girondins, two points ahead in 15th place.

"We must remain solid, we must not be madness, there are still two matches. We will not let go," promised Randal Kolo Muani, the third scorer (70th) also at the origin of the penalty converted by Imran Louza (2-0, 50th).

Nantes made life easy on an early goal from Kalifa Coulibaly (1-0, 19th), the immense Malian (1.97m) relaunched since the arrival of Kombouaré and author of his first goal this season on the weekend. last end in Brest.

The descent into hell of Bordeaux, interrupted last week with a short victory against Rennes, starts again ...

Plunged into turmoil with the announced withdrawal of their American shareholder, the Girondins have recorded 12 defeats (against two wins and a draw) since the end of January, at a time when they were still in the race for Europe.

"Paralyzed by the stake", the players achieved a "non-match", noted coach Jean-Louis Gasset.

"Today, we were beaten in technique, in aggressiveness, in the management of the ball ... We are mentally weak", he summarized.

Bordeaux will now receive Lens and travel to Reims.

Nantes will go to Dijon before welcoming Montpellier.

© 2021 AFP