Today in the French championship, there were three very interesting matches.
In the first of them, "Saint-Etienne" football players remained winless for the second week in a row, losing to newcomer "Troyes" as guests. The end of this match was indeed unexpected, as the home team played nearly an hour with ten men.
Nevertheless, Bryan Pele put them ahead in the 40th minute, and Saif-Eddine Khaoui responded with an equalizer at the beginning of the second half.
"Lyon" also failed to live up to their leader label and played a draw for the fourth time in a row, this time against "Angers." However, Bruno Genesio's side led with a solid 3-1 result after the first half thanks to goals from Mariano Diaz, Mouctar Diakhaby, and Memphis Depay, with Rafael scoring an own goal.
However, all of "Lyon's" efforts were spoiled by defender Marcelo, who showed disrespect to the referee and received a red card in the 50th minute. In his absence, Karl Toko Ekambi and Ismael Traore managed to score, and the match ended 3-3.
In the final matches of the round, "Nice" footballers convincingly led against "Marseille" at home, with Mario Balotelli scoring first and Jean-Michael Seri doubling the lead in the 16th minute.
Then came the opposing team's forward Lucas Ocampos, who initially scored after Andre Anguissa's pass, and then scored another goal after Pierre Lees-Melou's own goal. By halftime, the visitors were already ahead 3-2.
The second half started with a great strike from Luiz Gustavo, making "Marseille" look unbeatable. However, it was also time for a red card in this match – Gustavo received it for a foul against Lees-Melou.
However, the numerical advantage wasn't used by the "Nice" team, and Alassane Plea even missed a penalty from 11 meters. So, in the end, the visitors celebrated victory.
Results:
"Troyes" 2 - 1 "Saint-Etienne"
34' Karim Azamoum ("Troyes") sent off from the field
[1-0] 40' Bryan Pele
[1-1] 53' Hernani
[2-1] 57' Saif-Eddine Khaoui
84' Hernani ("Saint-Etienne") sent off from the field
"Angers" 3 - 3 "Lyon"
[0-1] 5' Mariano Diaz
[1-1] 30' Rafael (own goal)
[1-2] 38' Mouctar Diakhaby
[1-3] 42' Memphis Depay
50' Marcelo ("Lyon") sent off from the field
[2-3] 58' Karl Toko Ekambi
[3-3] 67' Ismael Traore
"Nice" 2 - 4 "Marseille"
[1-0] 4' Mario Balotelli
[2-0] 16' Jean-Michael Seri
[2-1] 26' Lucas Ocampos
[2-2] 41' Pierre Lees-Melou (own goal)
[2-3] 44' Lucas Ocampos
[2-4] 47' Luiz Gustavo
66' Luiz Gustavo ("Marseille") sent off from the field
83' Alassane Plea ("Nice") missed a penalty from 11 meters
