Ligue 1 2018-19: 5 talking points from Match Day 6

The sixth Match Day of the Ligue 1 2018-19 season witnessed the high profile Olympico derby with Lyon, high on confidence after a victory over Manchester City taking on Marseille. The league leaders Paris Saint Germain took on Rennes to assert their dominance in Ligue 1 further while Monaco were looking to get their campaign back on track after a pretty ordinary start to the season and a loss in the Champions League to Atletico Madrid as well. Montpellier and Lille performed strongly to go third and second respectively in the league.

Here, we take a look at the five main talking points from Match Day 6 of the Ligue 1 2018-19 season:

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#5 Lyon defeats Marseille in the Olympico derby

Nabil Fekir led from the front once again to guide Lyon to victory

Lyon have had a rough start to their Ligue 1 campaign securing just 7 points out of their first five matches while Marseille had a better campaign so far with 10 points from five games, including a win against Monaco. Both teams started their European journey as well this week as Lyon travelled to the Etihad to face Manchester City and came out as unlikely victors with a 2-1 victory. Marseille meanwhile were at home against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League and in spite of leading 1-0, went down to 1-2 to 10 men Frankfurt team.

Bruno Genesio started the match for Lyon with a 4-4-2 formation with Nabil Fekir and Memphis Depay in attack, supported by Aouar, Traore, Cheikh and Ndombele in midfield. Marseille started the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Payet, Thauvin and Ocampos supporting lone striker Mitroglou. Houssem Aouar opened the scoring for Lyon in the 27th minute, the assist coming from Ndombele. Shortly after, Thauvin equalized in the 39th minute scoring off of a Payet assist. The first half ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the second half, Bertrand Traore came into action scoring twice in ten minutes being assisted by Ndombele and Fekir in the 51st and 60th minute respectively. Traore won a penalty again which was awarded by VAR and Fekir converted from the spot to make it 4-1. Payet provided a second assist for N'Jie in the 82nd minute but it was not enough as Marseille were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Caleta-Car. The match ended 4-2 in favor of Lyon.

With this win, Lyon and Marseille are both on 10 points after 6 games in 6th and 5th place respectively, Lyon being behind on goal difference. The next opponents for Lyon are Dijon while Marseille face off against Strasbourg at home.

#4 Paris Saint Germain come back from behind to defeat Rennes

Neymar was pivotal in PSG's win over Rennes

PSG had made a perfect start to their Ligue 1 campaign before this match winning all of their five matches and securing 15 points to sit at the top of the Ligue 1 table. Rennes meanwhile have had a fairly decent start with 7 points from 5 games and were expected to put up a fight against PSG. Both PSG and Rennes started their European campaign as well this week. PSG travelled to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the Champions League group of death. They came back from a two-goal deficit in the match but still lost as Firmino scored a stoppage time winner for the hosts. Rennes meanwhile started their Europa League campaign against Jablonec with former PSG man Hatem Ben Arfa securing the victory for Rennes with a 91st-minute goal.

Thomas Tuchel's PSG started the match with a 4-3-3 formation with Cavani, Neymar and Draxler in the front three. Rabiot, Verrati and DiMaria started in the midfield three. Rennes started the match with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Niang upfront. Rennes took the lead early on in the 11th minute via a Rabiot own goal and did well to hold their lead throughout the half. But at the stroke of halftime, DiMaria struck a goal from a Draxler assist to level it up for PSG.

In the second half, Thomas Meunier scored in the 61st minute to make it 2-1 for PSG, with Neymar providing the assist. PSG brought on Choupo-Moting while Rennes brought on Ben Arfa looking for the equalizer. Choupo-Moting did score in the 83rd minute from a Thomas Meunier assist to make it 3-1 in favor of PSG. No more goals were scored after this and the match ended 3-1.

The next opponents for PSG are Reims while Rennes are away at Amiens Ligue 1 midweek clash.

#3 Monaco disappoint again with 1-1 home draw against Nimes

Falcao scored the equalizer

Monaco faced off against Nimes on Match Day 6 of Ligue 1. Monaco, having lost most of their star players over the course of two seasons have had a rough start to both Ligue 1 and the Champions League. So far, Monaco had managed a measly five points from their opening five fixtures in Ligue 1 and had also lost their opening match in the Champions League going down 1-2 to Atletico Madrid at home.

Jardim's team started in a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation with Falcao and Adama Traore leading the attack. Reims started the match in a solid 4-4-2 formation which would be tough to break down for Monaco. Anthony Briancon scored in the 19th minute to give Nimes the lead. Falcao scored off a Benasser assist to equalize for Monaco in the 27th minute. The first half ended in a 1-1 draw. Monaco did make attacking substitutions bringing on Grandsir and new Russian recruit Aleksandr Golovin but failed to score the decisive goal and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Monaco sit in 16th place after 6 games with just 6 points while Nimes are faring better than expected as they are on 10th place with 8 points. Up next for Monaco is a match against Angers while Nimes face Guingamp in Ligue 1 midweek fixtures.

#2 Lille defeat Nantes to take second place in Ligue 1

Jose Fonte and Lille are in second place in Ligue 1

Lille faced off against Nantes on Match Day 6 of Ligue 1. Lille have had a decent start to the season with 10 points from their opening five matches while Nantes have had a rocky start with five points from as many games.

Lille started the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Rui Fonte up front supported by Nicolas Pepe, Ikone and Bamba. Nantes also started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Emiliano Sala as the lone striker. Lille took the early lead in the first half when Jose Fonte scored off a Thiago Mendes assist from a corner. Both teams were unable to find the back of the net following this and the first half ended 1-0 in favor of Lille. Jonathan Ikone doubled the lead for Lille in the 67th minute as he scored off an assist from Jose Fonte. Kalifa Coulibaly came on as a substitute in the 77th minute for Sala and managed to pull one back for Nantes in the 82nd minute which was not enough as Lille won 2-1.

Lille jumps to second place in the ranking table while Nantes are in 18th place with just 5 points. Up next for Lille is a match away at Bordeaux while Nantes meet Nice at home in the midweek fixtures.

#1 Montpellier defeat Nice to take third place in Ligue 1

Balotelli failed to get on the scoresheet for Nice

Montpellier faced off against Nice on Match Day 6 of Ligue 1. Both teams had a mixed start to their Ligue 1 campaigns with Montpellier having accumulated 8 points from 5 games while Nice had 7 points from the same number of matches.

Montpellier and Nice started the match with a cautious 3-5-2 formation with Laborde and Delort in attack for Montpellier while Balotelli and Saint-Maximin in attack for Nice. Laborde scored the only goal of the match in the 35th minute to give Montpellier the lead. Nice had more possession, but Montpellier were more clinical of the two sides and did not surrender the lead till the end.

With this win Montpellier are in third place with 11 points while Nice still remain on 7 points and in distant 15th place. Montpellier face Caen while Nice face Nantes on MatchDay 7 of the midweek Ligue 1 fixtures.