Ligue 1: Ben Seghir offers victory to Monaco for his first, Ajaccio sinks Angers
After a 45-day break, Ligue 1 resumed on Wednesday December 28. For the first time, the League organized “Celebration Week”a kind of French Boxing Day, with a day between the holidays and one after the New Year.
Before the festivities, a minute of silence was observed in tribute to Johan Hamelreferee who died of a stroke during training on November 15, 2022, at the age of 42.
To start the sixteenth day of Ligue 1, AC Ajaccio, 18th before the meeting, received at 3 p.m. SCO Angers, red lantern with four points behind their evening opponent. It was the Corsicans who came out of it the best, thanks to a controlled first period and punctuated by a goal on penalty of the inevitable Youcef Belaïli (39th). The Algerian, who arrived on October 12, 2022 after terminating his contract with Brest, has already scored 4 goals and given 6 decisive passes with Ajaccio. The Corsicans come out of the red zone.
Morose atmosphere at the Stade de l’Aube
The Angevins, they are sinking a little deeper into the crisis, with an eighth consecutive defeat. However, they had the opportunity to equalize through Sada Thioub at the very end of the match, but his header from six meters flew away. “At some point, you have to score goals to win games. There is no secret,” lamented Cédric Hountondji at the final whistle. The SCO, the second worst attack in Ligue 1, will need it if they want to leave their last place.
In the other match at 3 p.m., Troyes received Nantes, whose supporters had decided to boycott the meeting, in a sparse stage. The gloomy atmosphere of the Stade de l’Aube did not help the players, who did not offer much for 90 minutes and left in a draw (0-0). The Canaries, more pressing in the opposing half, were not precise enough in front of goal. They are now 16th.
The Trojans, with only two shots on target, could not hope for better than a draw. Xavier Chavalerin hit Lafont’s post well, but Patrick Kisnorbo’s men never seemed able to score. Authors remembering their first clean sheet of the season, they climbed to 13th place, one point ahead of Nantes.
At 5 p.m., the Monegasques Takumi Minamino and Breel Embolo returned to the lawns of Ligue 1 after the World Cup. The Japanese and the Swiss were joined on the Auxerre pitch by Frenchies Youssouf Fofana and Axel Disasi after half-time. AS Monaco were equalized just before the break thanks to Wissam Ben Yedder.
The striker responded to a penalty from M’baye Niang (30th). For his first in Ligue 1, Eliesse Ben Seghir (17) secured victory for the Rock club thanks to a late double (58th, 85th). Meanwhile, AJA, 18th in Ligue 1 had joined ASM on the scoreboard, well helped by Fofana, scorer against his side for his return from Qatar (68th). Monaco steals fifth place in Lorient, while waiting for the Merlus match against Montpellier on Thursday.