Ligue 1 SRL Round-Up | Dijon, Angers and PSG walk away with big wins and more
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Weekend or weekday it seems not to matter in the French Ligue 1 with not one but four games on an action-packed Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning in the SRL. Things didn’t go as planned for either Nimes or Amiens as they dropped points in shocking games with the other two just as shocking.
Angers 1-0 Toulouse
A tough tough game to watch and definitely to play in, it turned out to be a frustrating first half of football for both sides. However, Angers were the better side in the opening half with them proving to be the more dangerous and the more creative side. They created 38 dangerous attacks as compared to Toulouse’s 19 with the hosts spending 64% of their time in dangerous attacks.
Things certainly didn’t change in the second half with it proving to be even tougher than anyone expected to score a goal. That’s despite Angers' finding six shots on target out of their 13 with them forcing 5 saves. That’s right, they eventually managed to find the winning goal with it coming just two minutes before the end. Extra time was four minutes but momentum was with the hosts.
Dijon 2-0 Amiens
A level game for most of the first half, things changed the moment Dijon found the net in the 31st minute but even that didn’t affect the statistics at half-half too much. That’s despite five shots on goal as compared to Amiens’ three, both sides were more or less on the same playing field going into the break. If anything, Dijon created 20 dangerous attacks, seven fewer than their visitors but spent 59% of their opening 45 minutes in dangerous attacks.
Amiens spent 41% but things changed in an instant in the second half. Somehow, the hosts found their mojo and changed the game although, despite six shots in normal time, they failed to double their advantage. That saw Amiens’ hope for the best but their three shots on goal were nothing but failures which eventually allowed Dijon to double their lead in added time and seal the game.
Nimes 2-2 Bordeaux
A very exciting game to watch but if the first half was absolutely anything to go by, then, this game was always going to be Nimes’ way. They dominated the game, scored two goals in the opening 15 minutes and walked into the break the better side. But while Bordeaux pulled one back 17 minutes into the first half, they then proceeded to pull a disappearing act that made Houdini blush.
The statistics at the end of the first half had everything in Nimes’ court. They created 31 dangerous attacks, almost double of what their visitors managed. Not only that, but they also spent 77% of their opening 45 in dangerous attacks, a little more than 3 times what Bordeaux managed. But this is football, where statistics don’t always mean everything. Things changed in the second half and Bordeaux, against the run of play, managed to pull one back four minutes before time. That shocked their hosts, leaving them with no time for a reply.
Olympique Marseille 1-2 PSG
It was exactly what the doctor ordered. A brilliant match-up between two of France’s best sides with only football to play for. The league title was already won weeks ago with PSG dominating that as per usual but Marseille were on the way back and their first-half proved that. The hosts were the better side in nearly every single department, as they created more dangerous attacks (30 to 18) spent more time in the same (51% to 49%) but struggled to do it for long.
That proved to be a crucial difference in the end with PSG scoring just under 20 minutes into the first half despite Marseille being the better side. Things changed in the second half and the away side picked up the pace, added a second and then complacency sat in. Marseille pulled one back mere minutes after PSG doubled their lead but then did nothing. The final half an hour saw them struggle and fail to equalise with the hosts eventually falling well short.
