Ligue 1: Nice Make History, as Top Clubs Vie for Supremacy on Matchday 5

It’s tight at the upper echelons of Ligue 1, with three sides vying for the top spot as Matchday 5 continues its action over the weekend.

There’ll be eight more matches for SBOTOP football fans to enjoy, after Nice—on their 120^th anniversary—made history in an 8-0 thrashing of St-Etienne at home earlier today.

With the win, Les Aiglons became the first Ligue 1 club to score six first-half goals in the 21^st century.

In fact, it was the opposition who opened the scoring first, with St-Etienne’s Buduka Batubinsika heading Jonathan Clauss’ cross into his own net. Tanguy Ndombele then doubled the lead not even 10 minutes after the first.

Nice were simply unplayable, continuing to put their struggling opponents on the back foot, and on the 24^th minute, Mohamed-Ali Cho made it three courtesy of a peach of a curler. Two minutes later, it was 4-0, with Youssoufa Moukoko scoring the first of his brace—his second one coming 13 minutes after his first, and three minutes after Evann Guessand made it 5-0 on what was a horrid match to forget for the visitors.

But just as everyone thought the punishment was enough, Sofiane Diop finished off a quick attacking display for a seventh heaven, before a penalty was awarded to the home side in the 86^th minute, and Pablo Rosario made no mistake, putting the finishing touches on a historic night.

 

Paris look to stave off challengers to their crown

The Parisians are yet to taste defeat in their early endeavours so far, disposing of their opponents left and right in a bid for a fourth straight league title.

Luis Enrique’s side went into the year with their megastar Kylian Mbappe exchanging life in Paris for Madrid. But as things stand, it’s business as usual for the French giants, and they’re now aiming to extend their lead over the chasing pack in Monaco and Marseille.

Three days after their close Champions League win—which almost never happened—against Girona, Luis Enrique is hopeful with his team’s chances when they face Stade de Reims tomorrow.

“It’s the shortest time we can have between two matches. There’s always a risk when you play in the league right after the Champions League because you’re moving from a highly demanding and interesting competition to regular league games. But we’ll face the challenge of playing away against a good opponent, and I hope we manage these different circumstances,” he said in the pre-match press conference.

Paris have dominated their competition so far, notching 16 goals to only three conceded. And with Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Randal Kolo Muani and Achraf Hakimi performing as they should, Mbappe’s departure is already a thing of the past.

 

Mason Greenwood can consolidate goalscoring lead against struggling Lyon

There were never any doubts about the talent that Mason Greenwood has. He’s a talented attacker and was built up to be one of England’s future stars back when he was showing the entire repertoire at Old Trafford.

But scandals and controversy followed the 22-year-old’s career, and he has now found himself ostracised in Britain.

He found his new home in France when Roberto De Zerbi took him in, despite of his history.  Four games in, and the forward is already setting the French top flight ablaze.

Currently leading all scorers with five goals, Greenwood has scored in all but one match and is looking to continue his run against Olympique Lyonnais.

The home team aren’t having one of the best starts so far, as Lyon have found themselves down in 13^th place, having already conceded eight goals so far.

Favoured by the Ligue 1 2024 odds to take the win, Marseille and Greenwood are primed to produce a sensational scoring display, with a dub guaranteeing their stay in the top three.

 

Monaco on cloud nine

In the unlikeliest of circumstances, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona—who were on a flier after starting out undefeated in La Liga—found themselves on the losing end against Monaco during their Champions League outing yesterday.

An early red card was issued to the Spanish visitors when Marc-Andre ter Stegen hastily passed the ball to a pressured Eric Garcia, to which the latter had no choice but to foul in order to prevent a sure goal early into the match.

But Barca went down anyway when Maghnes Akliouche scored past a surprised ter Stegen in the 16^th minute. Barcelona levelled the match through Lamine Yamal near the half-hour mark, but the 10-man advantage by Monaco proved to be a decisive factor in the end, when George Ilenikhena scored on a fast break in the 71^st minute.

Also boasting perfect Ligue 1 2024 results, Monaco will look to follow up their UCL win when they meet Le Havre tomorrow.

   

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