French Recap: Two Yank vs Yank Clashes in Ligue 1 Opening Weekend

The French top flight opened up over the weekend with a pair of Yank clashes, as well as a Ligue 1 debut by Bryan Reynolds.

Marseille 4 – 0 Strasbourg

Tim Weah captained his team from the South of France to an emphatic four-nil win over Strasbourg and their new American, Giovanni Reyna in the Mediterranean sunshine. New York City born Weah became a full-fledged Marseille man this summer after the team signed him permanently from Juventus. Reyna joined Le Racing earlier this month from Borussia Monchengladbach where he spent just one season. He made a late appearance, coming onto the field in the 69th minute.

It was OM’s Tunisian international, Amine Gouiri who stole the show and won man of the match with his brace at Stade Vélodrome. Strasbourg made the job more difficult when they went down to 10 men after Samir El Mourabet’s straight red card in the 59th minute for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Gouiri’s first came a minute after the restart from six yards out when Angel Gomes charged up the field from the left flank and dropped the ball at the striker’s feet for an easy tap in. His second was just 22 minutes later, this time from the penalty spot where he sent the keeper the wrong way.

A minute before 90 werre played, Keyliane Abdallah picked up the ball just inside the box and found the little gap between the keeper and the near post to make it three. The fourth came from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s touch from inside the D to round off the scoring. Four goals mean that Weah’s team ends the weekend in first place.

Up next will be a trip down the coast to take on Monaco and perhaps Folarin Balogun. In the other game, Reyna will hope for more minutes when Strasbourg hosts RC Lens, who put five past Auxerre.

Toulouse 0 – 2 Lyon

In the other Yank vs Yank battle over the weekend, Mark McKenzie started in defense for the Violets, but Tanner Tessmann didn’t get off the Olympique bench until very late, logging just 10 minutes of playing time.

After a pretty even first half where both teams had a couple of net bending opportunities, the visitors finally broke the deadlock in the 68th minute, thanks to Noah Nartey’s near post strike from just inside the 18-yard box, after a nice little cross from his Czech teammate, Pavel Sulc.

Then six minutes from full time, Malick Fofana shimmied around a couple of defenders in the box, got his shot off and made it two, putting the game to bed. In reality Toulouse looked to be dominating but they just couldn’t find the back of the net.

Up next the Olympians will host Le Havre, while Toulouse heads to Brest.

Notes

Bryan Reynolds made his Ligue 1 debut on Sunday evening against the French champions, PSG. He came on the field in the 88th minute, so didn’t see much action in this game where Rennes held the Parisians to a 2-2 draw, earning a point.

Folarin Balogun did not dress for Monaco’s game way up north in Le Havre. He’s being reported by French media as blessée (injured) but perhaps a transfer is imminent as predicted in Yanks Abroad’s Ligue 1 Preview.

With six Americans in the league, just for fun, we’ll be keeping track and naming the Winner of Yank vs Yank Clashes at the end of the season. This is how it looks so far – Weah and Tessman leading the pack.