Olympique Lyonnais played a paradoxical match in Ajaccio.

Dominated in the game and in the number of clear chances, the Lyonnais won by a comfortable gap (2-0), ending an embarrassing series of three games without a win.

OL are still ninth in the standings, but are nine points behind Rennes (5th), which occupies first place in Europe in the standings.

It was the Lyon team that put the club on the right track: well offset by Maxence Caqueret (22 years old), Bradley Barcola (20 years old) served the young midfielder Johann Lepenant (20 years old), who concluded with application ( 20th).

The Corsicans continued to challenge the always crumbly Gones rearguard, but failed to equalize, and OL captain Alexandre Lacazette doubled the lead by taking an ideal cross from Nicolas Tagliafico ( 71st).

The meeting ended in confusion, when a scuffle broke out, first involving Ajaccio coach Olivier Pantaloni and Lyon goalkeeper coach Rémy Vercoutre, then the two staffs and even the Corsican supporters.

The Digard effect

Nice won a match with a similar scenario at the start of the afternoon.

Against Lille (7th), who are ahead of them in the standings, the Niçois continued their revival by winning after suffering throughout the first period.

Losc failed to score despite four face-to-face encounters with goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, all-powerful to save his goals, especially against Rémy Cabella (25th and 27th) and Timothy Weah (31st).

It was finally Gaëtan Laborde who allowed the OGCN to open the scoring after this storm (34th), served by the young Badredine Bouanani (18), born and trained in Lille, who had taken advantage of a pass completely missed by... Cabella, definitely not successful.

Nice striker Gaëtan Laborde, scorer against Lille, at the Allianz Riviera, January 29, 2023 © Valery HACHE / AFP

Nice has a third game without defeat (two wins) since the arrival on the bench of Didier Digard, but is tenth (28 points), six points from the Mastiffs and nine from Rennes.

On the other hand, it is the maintenance that Montpellier, Brest, Angers, Auxerre and Strasbourg are aiming for, who all played during the 3 p.m. multiplex.

Montpellier managed to win (2-0), in a crucial meeting against AJA, a direct competitor.

A double from Stephy Mavididi, with a beautiful curled shot (61st) then against (79th), allowed the Montpellier residents to take a five-point lead over the red zone.

Record for Angers

On the contrary, Strasbourg is again sunk there by losing at home against Toulouse (2-1).

Racing led thanks to Kevin Gameiro (19th) but folded in front of Thijs Dallinga (24th and 50th).

The end of the match was like the Strasbourg season: frustrating, to the point of seeing Gameiro receive a red card for kicking Stijn Spierings (90th + 3).

Franck Honorat scores for Brest against Angers, January 29, 2023 at the Francis-Le-Blé stadium © JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

The situation is even more desperate in Angers, which has chained a twelfth consecutive defeat, this time in Brest (4-0), another club in difficulty, equaling the record jointly held by the Cercle athlétique Paris (1933-1934) and Dijon (2020 -2021).

The SCO, which sold its Moroccan midfielder Azzedine Ounahi to Olympique de Marseille this weekend, is last with only eight points, behind Auxerre (13 points), Ajaccio and Strasbourg (15), and Brest (18).

This day of Ligue 1 ends with the meeting of the leader, Paris Saint-Germain, against Reims (8:45 p.m.).

© 2023 AFP