All the French Yanks collected points over the weekend, including a Battle of the Yanks where Weah and McKenzie shared the points.
Monaco 1 – 0 PSG
Folarin Balogun started up front for Monaco when they hosted the French champions and league leaders on Saturday afternoon. It was former Liverpool man, Takumi Minamino however, who scored the only goal of the game halfway through the second half to hand PSG only their second loss of the Ligue 1 season. For Monaco, it ended their three-game losing streak.
Ten minutes into the game, the champs thought that they might lose their keeper when Lamine Camara made a late and reckless tackle on Lucas Chevalier, but after the yellow card was shown, the French number one slowly got back onto his feet.
In the 28th minute, Minamino hit a sweet shot inside the box, but Chevalier was quick to react and make the save on the Japanese international. Minutes later another Monaco chance was missed but this time it was the near post making the save. In the 40th minute Chevalier was picking the ball out of his net, but the offside flag went up.
Balogun was played through a minute into first half stoppage time, but Lucas Hernandez got a crucial touch before the American could pull the trigger. The ball hit his co-defender, Willian Pacho’s arm but for unknown reasons, it was ignored.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 68th minute when Aleksandr Golovin latched onto a long ball up the left channel, then picked out Minamino in the box who fired just inside the far corner post while two Parisian defenders just stood there watching. It was his third goal of the season.
Ten minutes before the 90 were played, Ibrahim Mbaye was brought down just outside the 18-yard box and VAR confirmed that he was denied a goal scoring opportunity, so German defender, Thilo Kehrer was shown a straight red card. The boys from the principality were able to hold on however to secure the three points.
Up next, Balogun and his team will make the long trip to Brittany to take on Brest, who are four places below them in the 11th spot.
Marseille 2 – 2 Toulouse
In this French Battle of the Yanks, Tim Weah and his Marseille side went up again Mark McKenzie and Toulouse on Saturday night on the south coast.
The visitors took the lead after just 14 minutes when Emersonn, the Brazilian striker with just the one name, as Brazilian soccer players tend to have, created the goal all by himself. Picking the ball up in the midfield, he jiggled past a couple of defenders, charged down field, turned another defender and shot from the top of the box, where the effort hit the near post and ricocheted into the goal for the unlikely lead.
A minute into stoppage time, Emerson, not the same one but the Italian defender for Marseille, delivered his corner kick into the box for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to thrash into the back of the net but unfortunately for the former Arsenal man, it was cleared off the line.
Les Phocéens got themselves back into the game in the 66th minute when a through ball into the box for Igor Paixao, a Brazilian with two names, was on the money and fired with gusto into the back of the Toulouse net.
Eight minutes later former Tottenham Hot Spuds flop, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored only his second goal of the season when Aubameyang sent a long ball into the box and right onto the head of the Danish midfielder, who nodded it just inside the far post. Scoring his first goal since early August, Hojbjerg tore off his shirt, threw it up in the arm and enthusiastically slid across the grass on his knees, celebrating as if he just scored the winner in the World Cup final.
But the three points weren’t to be because in the 92nd minute, McKenzie’s very long throw was met by the head of Santiago Hidalgo, who beat the keeper from six yards.
The lack of a Marseille victory denied them the chance to move into first place, while a point for Toulouse moves them up to ninth place. Up next for Balogun’s boys is a trip north to the Belgian border to take on Lille OSC, while McKenzie’s crew host Strasbourg.
Lyon 3 – 0 Nantes
Tanner Tessmann played for 90 minutes in Lyon’s home victory over FC Nantes. Junior Mwanga’s first half red card was the turning point of the game because Lyon were held scoreless until they had the man advantage.
After a scoreless first half, Lyon started the second with 11 vs 10 and immediately scored, six minutes after the restart to be exact. Tyler Morton shot from inside the box and when his effort bounced off the left post, Abner Vinicius was on hand to smack it over the line.
In the 70th minute, Martin Satriano got on his bike and scored with one of those overhead kicks before scoring again seven minutes later, putting the game to bed and collecting all the points. Now in sixth place, the Olympians hit the road next to take on Lorient.
