Last-place Lyon remains winless in French league. Nice reclaims top spot
PARIS (AP) — After the latest failure to win a game this season, Lyon's players were booed off the field by their fans who were unhappy at a 1-1 draw with Metz in the French league on Sunday.
A week after he got injured in a vicious attack ahead of a scheduled game in Marseille, Lyon coach Fabio Grosso did not hide away and went to address his team's angry supporters.
They appreciated the gesture.
“Fabio Grosso, Fabio Grosso, Fabio, Fabio, Fabio Grosso!” the fans chanted as he took a microphone.
“You are really special,” Grosso told the fans. “We’ll give everything, because you deserve it. We did everything we could to (try and) get this win today. We won’t give up, we have to get there, we can’t imagine anything else.”
For now, it is difficult to imagine anything other than a bad ending for Lyon this season.
The seven-time champions remain winless and stuck at the bottom of the league. At the other end, Nice reclaimed top spot from Paris Saint-Germain later Sunday with a 2-0 win against Rennes.
INSPIRED BOGA
Jeremie Boga scored Nice’s opener with a close-range finish just before the interval and has now been involved in three of Nice’s last five goals.
Rennes goalkeeper Steve Mandanda was at fault for the second when he pushed back into his goal a shot from Sofiane Diop that hit the crossbar in the 86th minute. Both teams finished with 10 players.
Nice, the only team still unbeaten in the league, has a one-point lead over PSG.
LYON STRUGGLES
Back in action after its match at Marseille was postponed last week following an attack on their bus, Lyon players were unable to shake off their poor form.
They narrowly avoided a fifth loss in 10 matches after Ablie Jallow broke the deadlock for Metz with just 14 minutes left to play, with Skelly Alvero leveling the score seven minutes later.
Metz had the best chances of the first half, and Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes had to deliver several good saves to keep his team afloat. Lopes kept out Jallow's effort in the 40th minute and was decisive again to deny the forward's shot from outside the box two minutes later.
Lyon improved after the interval but did not create much until Jallow put Metz in the lead with a left-footed shot into the top left corner. Alvero then salvaged a point for Lyon with his first goal in the top flight, a curled strike.
Lyon remained six points behind 16th-place Metz ahead of a tough run of matches against Rennes, Lille, Lens and Marseille.
MONACO BOUNCES BACK
The Principality side got back to winning ways with a 2-0 defeat of Brest, moving within a point of second-place PSG as Aleksandr Golovin delivered an assist and scored one goal.
PSG warmed up for Tuesday's Champions League match against AC Milan with a comprehensive 3-0 win at home against Montpellier on Friday.
Monaco, which lost to Lille in the previous round for only its second defeat this season, took the lead after 16 minutes from Denis Zakaria's header and sealed the win with a second-half goal from Golovin.
In other matches Sunday, Reims won 1-0 at Nantes thanks to Junya Ito's goal, and Strasbourg and Clermont drew 0-0. Mohamed Bayo scored a brace — including one goal in stoppage time — to give Le Havre a 2-1 win at Toulouse.
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