French Ligue 1: Marseille, Lyon Both Get Big Wins

All season, Yoann Gourcuff has been the scapegoat for Lyon’s mediocre season. When Lyon purchased him from Bordeaux this summer, they broke the all time transfer record for a transfer fee between two French clubs. Gourcuff has been a complete disappointment for club and country since then, and as a result of his poor form, he was dropped to the bench to start today’s game against Montpellier. With his game-winning goal off the bench to keep Lyon in the title race, Gourcuff, at least temporarily, has gone from goat to hero.

In the first half, Ederson and Oliver Giroud scored good goals for their clubs, and we went into halftime with the teams drawn 1-1. In the 55th minute, star striker Lisandro Lopez lifted Lyon into the lead, scoring with his right foot, assisted by Bafetimbi Gomis. Lyon appeared to have things under control until Souleymane Camara scored in the 84th minute to equalize, sending shockwaves throughout the Stade de Gerland.

Marseille have regained first place in Ligue 1, thanks to a 4-2 win in a wild game against rivals Nice. Nice are a club who are far down the table, but who stay organized and don’t concede (or score) too often, so this six goal score line is certainly a surprise. For Marseille, it was the Ayew brothers who put on a show, as Andre Ayew played a great 90 minutes and Jordan Ayew made a serious impact when he came off the bench in the 59th minute.

Andre Ayew opened the scoring in the game by tapping in a ball that was mishandled by David Ospina, but Nice got one back in the 42nd minute through Abdou Traore, who blasted the ball into the back of the net following a scramble after a corner kick. The first half ended 1-1, and the second half would be considerably more lively.

Marseille have been the much better team than Nice in this smaller derby match in Ligue 1, but some bad luck and some tough play from Nice have the match level at 1-1 at halftime. Both teams should probably have at least one more goal, but unfortunately, the referee has had a pretty large negative effect on this game thus far.

In the 22nd minute, Marseille forward Andre Ayew was clearly fouled in the box, but no penalty was granted by the referee. It was as clear of a penalty as you’ll ever see, but it was not granted, and Ayew looked rather confused. However, a bit of Karma would strike eight minutes later, as Ayew scored after tapping in a mishandled ball by Nice goalkeeper David Ospina.

After winning the Coupe de la Ligue against Montpellier at the weekend, Marseille have put out a first choice team yet again at mid-week. They can hardly afford to rest players right now, as they are very much in the middle of a title race. However, one key player has been rested, as playmaking midfielder Lucho Gonzalez will start this game on the bench. Fabrice Abriel will get a rare start in his place. Charles Kabore has been selected as the starting defensive midfielder, with Edouard Cisse left to the bench.

Nice haven’t exactly been a solid team this season, but their 4-3-3/4-5-1 hybrid setup could prove difficult to break down for Marseille. They’re a poor team offensively, but they’re fairly well organized for a team near the bottom of the table and they don’t concede too many goals.