Ligue 1: Reims surprises Rennes, Lorient loses to Montpellier

A place on the Rennes podium (3rd) is in jeopardy after the defeat in Reims (3-1), Thursday for the continuation of the 16th day of Ligue 1, where Montpellier resurfaced with a win in Lorient (2-0). Marseille, one point behind the Bretons, could return to the podium if they beat Toulouse (21:00).

Undefeated for 17 matches, Bruno Genesio’s wards were hit by Folarin Balogun, the author of a double that included a magnificent volley, and Alexis Flips.

In Lorient, in protest at the schedule of their meeting against Montpellier, the ultras unfurled a banner reading “Sorry for the delay, we are quitting our job. Their players apparently decided to follow the movement as they never entered the match, conceding a goal by Teja Savanye (1-0, 3rd) from the start with a superb kick franc he got himself. When groups of fans returned after 28 minutes of play, Merlus conceded the second goal scored by Eli Vahi (2-0, 22nd) after a disagreement between Gedeon Kalulu and his goalkeeper Vito Mannone.

Despite a huge double moment at the beginning of the second half, when Terem Moffi found the crossbar of Jonas Omlin, Lorient did not catch up and lost (2:0). The sixth consecutive match without a win for the men of Regis Le Bris, who is now 7th in the standings after a long stay on the podium. For its part, Montpellier gives itself some air as it moves back to 11th place. This is Herault’s first win since a 2-1 win at home against Strasbourg on 19 September.

“There are days when we missed the first half. It does not forgive, ”complained Lorient striker Ibrahima Kone into the Prime Video microphone. Elie Vahi was very pleased with his team’s victory: “We did a bad job at half-time and today’s award is good for us. Ending the year in style is what we wanted, so good. »