High-flyers OGC Nice stretched their lead at the top of Ligue 1 with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Olympique Lyonnais on Friday after second-place AS Monaco crashed to defeat against Toulouse.
Nice captain Paul Baysse volleyed in a fifth-minute strike at the Allianz Riviera, while Jean-Michael Seri swept in a second on 76 minutes to send Lucien Favre’s men four points clear at the summit.
Mario Balotelli had a penalty saved late on as Nice extended their unbeaten start to the campaign, but Lyon slumped to a fourth defeat in nine matches after they were forced to play a man down for more than an hour with Nabil Fekir dismissed for an ugly stamp on Baysse.
Photo: Reuters
“We beat a good Lyon team. We will enjoy it but we’ll carry on with our philosophy of going match-by-match,” Favre said. “The league season is very long. It’s good to be first and we’ve started the competition well but we have to keep on working.”
Earlier, Toulouse roared back from a goal down to stun Monaco and maintain their impressive early-season form under Pascal Dupraz, whose side had already beaten reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Valere Germain headed in Gabriel Boschilia’s free-kick to put Monaco ahead with just three minutes gone in Toulouse, but the home side hit back through Oscar Trejo midway through the second half.
Martin Braithwaite, whose header had set up Toulouse’s equalizer, then struck twice in the final 10 minutes.
BUNDESLIGA
AP, FRANKFURT, Germany
Hertha BSC’s dogged defense frustrated Borussia Dortmund’s high-scoring attack for 80 minutes before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang notched the equalizer for a 1-1 draw in a Bundesliga match on Friday that saw both teams finish with 10 men.
Aubameyang hit the post and wasted a penalty before scoring his league-high sixth goal of the season.
Valentin Stocker put Hertha ahead in the 51st, but was sent off in the 90th for a harsh tackle. Dortmund’s Emre Mor was also sent off, six minutes earlier.
Berlin went ahead on a rare, but well-executed attack. Vedad Ibisevic picked up a throw-in and fed Stocker with a back-heel pass through Dortmund’s defense and the midfielder slotted past Roman Buerki.
Dortmund got the equalizer, after Dembele’s run on the left and a cross to the far post for Aubameyang to knock it in.
Mor was then sent off for pushing down Sebastian Langkamp, who had dragged the teenager for several meters before falling dramatically.
There was nothing to discuss about the expulsion of Stocker, who swept Matthias Ginter off his feet from behind.
LA LIGA
AP, CANARY ISLANDS, Spain
In La Liga action yesterday, while UD Las Palmas were held to a 0-0 draw at home by RCD Espanyol on Friday.
Kevin-Prince Boateng had the Canary Islands side’s best two chances, but his pair of shots were saved by Espanyol goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
In yesterday’s early game, a late strike from Pablo Sarabia gave Sevilla a dramatic 3-2 win against CD Leganes to provisionally send them top of La Liga.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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