Balogun continued his scoring form while McKenzie’s side were involved in a 7-goal thriller in Metz over the weekend in Ligue 1 action.
Monaco 2 – 0 Brest
The goal machine that is Folarin Balogun continues to steam roll Ligue 1 opponents with yet another goal, his sixth in his last six appearances for the Red and Whites. He put in a 70-minute shift as his side held on to the fifth spot.
The visiting Pirates, who knew that a win would give them an excellent chance at competing in a European competition next season had a couple of chances early on but both Romain Del Castillo and then Ludovic Ajorque missed the target completely. Brest had won their last three games without conceding a goal. Balogun was about to change that however. Maghnes Akliouche received the ball just inside the box and the American was the quickest to react as he slotted it into the far corner of the Brest goal.
There was a beautiful cross into Monaco’s box that only required a tap in however there were no Brest boys on hand to collect an easy goal, so the half ended 1-0.
Monaco’s Russian midfielder, Aleksandr Golovin could have doubled the lead just after the restart had it not been for an amazing save by Gregoire Coudert to deny what could have been a goal of the season contender. In the 78th minute however, the Russian did collect a goal after a nice cross in the box from Mamadou Coulibaly.
Just six points from a top three finish, which means automatic qualification into the Champions League, Monaco will go up against Tanner Tessmann and fourth place Lyon over the weekend.
Marseille 1 – 0 Auxerre
Tim Weah started in the right back spot when Olympique de Marseille hosted Auxerre at the Stade Velodrome on Friday night. The American played the full 90 in this game that was decided by a late Amine Gouiri goal, the Algerians sixth of the Ligue 1 season.
Both sides found it tough to create chances in the first half but one fell to Weah, who saw his goal-bound shot blocked, just after Mason Greenwood sent his effort sailing over the AJA crossbar. In 19 league games this season, this was only the second time that OM was not able to find the back of the net before the intermission.
The hosts came out for the second half was fire in their eyes and goals on their minds as they assaulted Donovan Léon’s goal from the start. The 33-year-old keeper from French Guyana played the hero however, and made a double save, first parrying away Greenwood’s shot from outside the box, and then grabbing onto Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s follow-up.
In the 79th minute, in a crowded Auxerre box, second half sub Gouiri latched onto a loose ball and blasted it past Donovan, who had a series of decent saves before the Algerian international broke the deadlock.
The three points leaves them in the third spot with a battle against OSC Lille next on the schedule.
Metz 3 – 4 Toulouse
In the biggest goals game in Ligue 1 over the weekend, Mark McKenzie played in the central defensive spot in a three-man back line as he went the duration in this game where the visitors left it late into stoppage time to snatch the victory over their Metz hosts. The win ends their six-game winless streak.
Just six minutes in, Aron Donnum got the ball just outside the box, dribbled into the D and smashed his shot just inside the near post. Eight minutes later it was two-nil as a trio of Violets burst down the field and when Yann Gboho found the ball at his feet inside the box, he pulled the trigger and easily beat the hapless keeper.
Metz, who are the most likely team to be relegated at the end of the season, fought back and scored two goals in two minutes. Nathan Mbala struck on the half hour mark after he was left all alone just inside the box. The 18-year-old drilled it into the back of the net. This was followed by Koffi Kouao’s diving header eight yards out after a deflected cross into the box.
Gboho struck again three minutes into first half stoppage time when he curled the ball into the far post from the corner of the 18-yard box to allow Toulouse to take a narrow lead into the locker room at the intermission.
You can forgive the Metz fans for thinking that they stole an all-important point when in the 88th minute Giorgi Abuashvili was the recipient of a poorly cleared ball that allowed the Georgian to strike from the middle of the box to tie things up again. But it was not to be however when a sweet Mario Sauer shot was on the money after the Slovak was left all alone in the box.
On 34 points and in 11th place, a European spot is not out of the question mathematically, but McKenzie’s side will have to string a bunch of Ws together if they hope to achieve the dream. They’ll go up against 9th place Lorient over the weekend.
Notes
Tanner Tessmann collected a yellow card over the weekend as his Lyon side were held to a scoreless draw up in Normandy when they went up against Le Havre. Lyon has been slipping a bit with their last four games seeing them collect just 2 points. They’ll be looking for all three next time out when they host Monaco.
Metz – Toulouse