It was a relatively good weekend for results of American teams with a pair of wins and shared points. It was only Tim Weah who didn’t get any playing minutes, however.
Marseille 3 – 1 St-Etienne
Before the international break, Olympique de Marseille hosted the Saints of St Etienne and sent them home with no points in the bag after the 3-1 result. Konrad de la Fuente got the nod and put in a 56 minute shift.
OM got the scoring underway after 23 minutes. De la Fuente was involved, setting up his French teammate, Matteo Guendouzi who scored his first goal of the season. But it wasn’t 10 minutes later when Timothée Kolodziejczak stuck back for the visitors to even it up. And this is how it ended after the first 45 minutes.
The second half got underway and this time it took only six minutes after the referee’s whistle started the second half before Gerson, who has to be a Brazilian since he only uses that one name, found the back of the net to put Marseille back on top.
Cengiz Under put the game to bed in the 68th minute when he scored number three for the season, ensuring that the southern French team collected all the points and now sit in fifth place in Ligue 1.
Up next, after the international break, of course, will be a derby against Monaco.
Nimes 0 – 0 Caen
Nicholas Gioacchini got into the starting lineup when his Normandy team traveled south to Nimes to take on the Crocodiles of Nimes Olympique in Ligue 2 action. The American frontman played 76 minutes of this contest that produced no goals.
The hosts got the proceedings underway and were unlucky to light up the scoreboard when Patrick Bruner was played into the box from close range and made his way around a defender but his shot was knocked away by the Caen keeper, Remy Riou, who did everything right.
At the other end, Ali Abdi spotted the run of Benjamin Jeannot but the Frenchman’s header from six yards out was met by the chest of the Nimes’ keeper.
The best chance of the game was by Mahamadou Doucouré when he released a bullet from 16 yards out. He easily beat Riou at the near post, but he didn’t beat the near post as it struck and bounced away.
Overall both teams were equally matched in the possession stat, but the visitors managed only one shot on target. The Crocodiles weren’t much better with three.
Both teams should be happy with a share of the spoils with both in the top half of the Ligue 2 standings.
With the international break coming up, Gioacchini and his Vikings won’t get back on the field until September 11 when they host Pau.
Notes
Tim Weah didn’t dress for Lille’s 2-1 home victory against Montpellier. The win leaves the Dogues in 10th place and they have a short break before traveling to seventh place Lorient.
