Le Mans and Brest duel
Le Mans, returning to Ligue 1 after 16 years, secured its first point of the season with a 2-2 draw against Brest. The match, played at Le Mans’ home, saw the Sarthois trailing 1-0 thanks to a goal by Romain Del Castillo. Dame Gueye equalised at the 45th minute, but Louis Mafouta restored the advantage for the Brestois at the 55th minute. Kamory Doumbia ultimately sealed the draw at the 62nd minute, after a chaotic corner. The game was marked by tributes paid to Eric Roy, the former assistant of Eric Roy, who died last year.
Paris FC and Nice stagnate
Paris FC, led by Antoine Arnault, finished its match against Troyes with a 0-0 draw. The Parisians, forced to wear their season-old white away kit to avoid a colour clash with the Aubois, were offensively weak and often troubled by the collective sequences of the Troyes. Likewise, Nice, who survived Ligue 1 last year via a play-off against Saint-Étienne, struggled against Lorient but kept the score at 0-0. The match took place in a closed-door Allianz Riviera, due to incidents at the end of the previous season against Metz.
Lyon wins in Toulouse
Despite a largely reshuffled squad to preserve its chances of a Champions League return play-off against Fenerbahçe, Lyon performed well, winning 2-0 in Toulouse. Paulo Fonseca’s players were saved several times by their goalkeeper Rémy Descamps, under the watch of Fabien Barthez, future coach of the France national team goalkeepers of Zinedine Zidane. Lyon’s goals were scored by Noah Nartey at the 67th minute and Malick Fofana at the 85th minute.
1st-day results
- Marseille - Strasbourg 4-0
- Lens - Auxerre 5-2
- Le Mans - Brest 2-2
- Nice - Lorient 0-0
- Toulouse - Lyon 0-2
- Troyes - Paris FC 0-0
The upcoming Sunday matches are: Angers - Lille at 15:00, Le Havre - Monaco at 17:15, and Rennes - PSG at 20:45.
