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French Recap: Balogun Scores in Reims Loss, Weah Suffers Head Injury in Lille Win

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Folarin Balogun scored a goal, but it was not enough as Reims fell to Marseille, while Timothy Weah was carried off with a head injury as Lille recorded a win over Toulouse.

Reims 1-2 Marseille

Reims saw their 19-game unbeaten run come to an end as they fell to second-place Marseille at Stade Auguste-Delaune II.

Folarin Balogun went the distance for the Red and Whites, completing 75 percent of his passes and taking four shots.

The hosts jumped out to the lead after 13 minutes when Marshall Munetsi did well to break away from his marker, charge into the 12-yard box and cross the ball to a wide open Balogun to steer home.

However, their lead did not last for long as the visitors scored the equalizer three minutes later. Alexis Sanchez’s sent his free-kick over the wall and Reims goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf could only watch it sail into the goal. The Chilean gave Marseille the lead for good before the half-hour mark when his teammate Pau Lopez played the ball over the top and with no Reims defender making a challenge, the forward pounced and put the ball in the back of the net.

The second would be scoreless, but Balogun had an excellent opportunity to level the score in stoppage when his volley crashed off the post.

Reims have dropped down to ninth place in the standings with 43 points.

Toulouse 0-2 Lille

Two goals late in the second half saw Lille come away with all three points in their win over Toulouse at Stadium de Toulouse to keep up their challenge for a European spot.

Timothy Weah played 96 minutes before coming off, completing 94 percent of his passes, winning seven duels, and making a tackle along with one shot.

Both sides had chances, but the first half would end scoreless.

The second half would be much of same until the 85th minute when the visitors finally broke the scoreless deadlock. Alexsandro Ribeiro was able to escape his marker to head the ball from Edon Zhegrova’s corner kick.

Lille then had immediatley after scoring when Weah went down after after colliding with Toulouse midfielder Vincent Sierro as they challenged for the ball in the air. The winger was stretchered off and place in concussion protocol.

The visitors put the game to bed deep in stoppage time when Mohamed Bayo forced Rasmus Nicolaisen to turn over the ball and the Guinean international slammed his shot home.

The win leaves Lille in sixth place in the standings with 49 points.

Note

Erik Palmer-Brown went the distance for Troyes as they played out a 2-2 draw with Brest to keep them three points from getting out of the relegation zone.

author

Kenya Brown

Born in America, but raised in Europe and Asia, Kenya has loved soccer ever since his parents put a ball at his feet. While covering some of the top U.S. players around Europe, he loves putting the spotlight on players who are based in leagues off the beaten path. He also interviews coaches and other people in the game to gain more insight.

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