AS Monaco's Radamel Falcao-powered 3-0 win over direct rivals OGC Nice sent the principality club three points clear in top spot, while

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1 NEWSLETTER Week 23 review: Falcao takes Monaco clear AS Monaco's Radamel Falcao-powered 3-0 win over direct rivals OGC Nice sent the principality club three points clear in top spot, while PSG's 3-1 win in Dijon saw them take second place from the Aiglons on Goal difference. Monaco's title credentials have been on display in the new year, with the 1-1 draw a the Parc des Princes in Week 22 leading onto an impressive display that shut out erstwhile leaders OGC Nice thanks to goals from Valère Germain and 14-goal club top scorer Falcao - and sent Leonardo Jardim's men three points clear in top spot. "We are doing well but there's still a long way to go. Our three-point advantage is nothing. The players cannot get distracted," tempered the Portuguese, whose reputation as a defence-minded coach is a thing of the past, his side currently on par with the mighty FC Barcelona with a century of strikes in all competition this season. "I am the same person as the one who arrived in 2014, but with some better players and some who, after two years, have raised their level. I think this team can get even better. When I was asked about Falcao earlier this season, I said I was sure he could make a difference this year. I'm very happy to be working with a striker of this quality." The defeat came just after Nice had toppled EA Guingamp in Week 22 to claim a first win in all competitions in 2017, but coach Lucien Favre refused to be drawn into any talk of a crisis at the club who led the league for the bulk of the first half of the season. "We tried to play well but conceded a perfectly avoidable goal. We forgot our defensive duties at times. Monaco ran a lot and pressed a lot," admitted the Swiss tactician, whose side take on in-form Saint-Etienne at home on Wednesday night. "We are disappointed but we mustn't make a meal of our defeat. Now we're going to focus on the next game. We need to react." Meanwhile Paris Saint-Germain went into their Saturday evening clash a few hours after the Côte d'azur derby knowing that a win in Dijon would take them above Nice on goal difference. Unai Emery's men duly obliged, although it wasn't until the second half that the South American trio of Lucas, Thiago Silva and Edinson Cavani - who is now on 22 league goals this season - all struck to clinch the 3-1 victory. "All matches away from home are difficult. We made mistakes in the first half that allowed them to come back at us," said the Spaniard, knowing that the slightest slip-up will be punished in their impending Champions League last-16 clash with Barcelona. "We have to maintain our level now. It was not a very pleasant experience for our fans watching us against Dijon. But it was a solid performance and this is what we need to compete at the top." Meanwhile the Rhône derby in Saint-Etienne played out on Sunday night with Les Verts taking revenge for the 2-0 loss at the Parc OL Week 8 by claiming their own victory by the same scoreline. It was Sainté's third-straight home win in the fixture, all the more appreciated as it came just days after the club's 3-0 Coupe de France elimination by Ligue 2 outfit Auxerre, and coach Christophe Galtier was thrilled. "We got off to the right start for this kind of match. My players stepped up. I want to congratulate them and say to everyone that my lads really earnt this victory. It's a symbolic win," he declared, with his side now in fifth place and just a point behind their opponents on the night. "There was a lot of determination, with a powerful collective force. We have taken ten points from our last four matches. That's good." Marseille sit just behind Les Verts in sixth, but could have been level on points had they not followed up their Week mauling of Montpellier with a 1-0 defeat away to promoted Metz. Former Lorient captain Yann Jouffre hit the only goal of the game seven minutes from time to lift Les Grenats out of the drop zone and into 17th place. 02/07/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 1

2 Mid-table sides Bordeaux and Rennes played out a 1-1 draw as fit-again Yoann Gourcuff (69') cancelled out Jérémy Ménez's opener, while Guingamp are now winless in four (three defeats) after rising star Yann Karamoh decided the thrilling match with a last-gasp strike (90'+3). Lorient claimed a 1-0 win in Lille to put pressure on fellow relegation contenders Angers SCO, who were hammered 4-0 by a resurgent Toulouse side, and SC Bastia, who were bested 2-1 by Montpellier in La Paillade's first match under new boss Jean-Louis Gasset, who took over from the sacked Frédéric Hantz at the beginning of the week. New Nantes boss Sergio Conceicao's impressive start at the club lost a bit more of its gloss as Les Canaris were bested by Nancy 2-0 at the Stade de la Beaujoire less than a month after suffering the same fate in the Coupe de la Ligue quarters. Nantes slip to 14th while early-season relegation contenders Nancy climb to a season-high 11th place. Week 23 reactions Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier was full of praise for his side's gutsy 2-0 Rhône derby win on Sunday night, while opposite number Bruno Genesio felt his Lyon side completely missed the target against their arch-rivals. Sunday, 5 February, 2017 AS Saint-Etienne 2-0 Olympique Lyonnais Christophe Galtier (AS Saint-Etienne coach): "We got off to the right start for this kind of match. My players stepped up. I want to congratulate them and say to everyone that my lads really earnt this victory. It's a symbolic win. There was a lot of determination, with a powerful collective force. In three days' time, we travel to Nice to do our best. We have 36 points and we're not far off the 44-point goal I set. We're not back in the fight for a top-three spot - I think the teams above us are better than us, as are some od the sides just below us. But we have taken ten points from our last four matches. That's good." Bruno Genesio (Olympique Lyonnais coach): "If you're not in derby mode when the match kicks off, it's tough. Saint-Etienne were in the right frame of mind. We're looking crisis-bound after three defeats in a row but we have found a way to get through this kind of difficulty before. We didn't start the match well at all. We lost all the aerial challenges and second balls. We weren't in the fight in the way a derby demands. It's always tough to lose but it's tougher in a derby because we are a proud club. Tonight we forgot certain values that you need in a derby, while Saint-Etienne didn't." FC Nantes 0-2 AS Nancy Lorraine Sergio Conceiçao (Nantes coach): "The last three matches were like that. We try to put something out on the pitch going forward, we look to play football, but we come up against teams like that, who are direct with long balls, second balls?we have to respect our opponents' strategy because they won, they were right, but we tried. In the first half, I think the best player was the Nancy goalkeeper. We might have scored two or three times, but we couldn't beat the goalkeeper. If we had scored, the match would have been different. Pablo Correa (Nancy coach): "We've got a good result here in Nantes. We were very effective. It's happened a lot to us at home to play like that, and 02/07/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 2

3 to leave empty-handed. In this league domination counts for little?you have to be focussed, you can't just sit back. In the first half, Nantes dominated, but we could see that we could do somehing from our attacks, and we spoke about that at half-time. We said we had to push our attacks right through and that's what happened in the second-half. I had said that they shouldn't look at the table, things can change. If you win two games, you are in a good position, and in a bad one if you lose. You have to look at the points, not think about the future. We prepared to stay up, if we can do that before May, we'll have a cup of champagne or a beer, but we have to prepare ourselves mentally for that." Toulouse FC 4-0 Angers SCO Pascal Dupraz (Toulouse coach): "All victories do you good. This one all the more so because we had been on a bad run. We really wanted to stop that, but quite honestly, we didn't know when it would end. Now, we can say it's ended. The players deserve credit, because from the start of the week, I saw 30 committed players and today I saw 14 who defended the colours of TFC all at the same time. That led to a deserved win after totally dominating." Stéphane Moulin (Angers coach): "In the second half, we made a mess of everything and TFC took full advantage. There's not much good that came out of that. We just didn't perform. We have to forget about it, but also learn from it. It's worrying to concede four goals in one half. Our disappointment is legitimate, but there's also incomprehension, because we made uncharacteristic mistakes. We were far too often pulled out of position, I didn't like that at all." Saturday, 4 February, 2017 AS Monaco 3-0 OGC Nice Leonardo Jardim (Monaco coach): "We are doing well but there's still a long way to go. Our three-point advantage is nothing. The players cannot get distracted. They have to listen as much as ever to the coaches and the club staff and ignore what people on the outside are saying. I am the same person as the one who arrived in 2014, but with some better players and some who, after two years, have raised their level. One hundred goals scored is very good! I think this team can get even better. When I was asked about [Radamel] Falcao earlier this season, I said I was sure he could make a difference this year. I'm very happy to be working with a striker of this quality." Lucien Favre (Nice coach): "It was 0-0 at half-time which seemed fair. We tried to play well but conceded a perfectly avoidable goal. We forgot our defensive duties as times. Monaco ran a lot and pressed a lot. We are disappointed but we mustn't make a meal of our defeat. Monaco are very strong. They finished top of their group in the [UEFA] Champions League. They are very effective, very, very efficient. Now we're going to focus on the next game. We need to react." Dijon FCO 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain Olivier Dall'Oglio (Dijon coach): "We came up against a stronger team than ourselves. We are frustrated, though, given how much energy and effort we put in. The ball fell in the right place for Paris. They are dangerous from set pieces every time." Unai Emery (PSG coach): "All matches away from home are difficult. We didn't play as well as I had hoped. We made mistakes in the first half that allowed them to come back at us. I liked [Hatem] Ben Arfa and [Goncalo] Guedes when they came on. We have to maintain out level now. It was not a very pleasant experience for our fans watching us against Dijon. It was a solid performance and this is what we need to compete at the top." 02/07/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 3

4 Girondins de Bordeaux 1-1 Stade Rennais FC Jocelyn Gourvennec (Bordeaux coach): "We suffered from start to finish. We were second to everything. Rennes played very well, moved us about the pitch. We couldn't get our heads above water. Rennes have raised their level recently. Playing like that away from home is impressive. We were dominated." Christian Gourcuff (Rennes coach): "I am happy when I see the team play like this. Only the result is disappointing, but it is almost secondary. [Morgan] Amalfitano was excellent. We hit the nail on the head signing him. When the team is more attacking it is easier for Yoann Gourcuff to express himself. We showed signs of promise. We are building from within, not the transfer market. When you develop in that way you can afford to be ambitious." EA Guingamp 0-1 SM Caen Antoine Kombouaré (Guingamp coach): "Tonight Guingamp played an interesting match. We were able to impose our will for long periods. I liked the way we played. We defended well and created many good chances. Unfortunately we were profligate. Caen scored with their only shot! This defeat is infuriating. It was physically challenging and direct. This is a big disappointment. It will be necessary to find the mental strength get a good result in Marseille." Patrice Garande (Caen coach): "This result was just reward for the players' hard work. They had the desire to work until the end. I have strength in depth, which is always interesting to a coach. Now we must keep going in this direction. We cannot relax simply because we won away from home. We have found a desire and a will to win." LOSC 0-1 FC Lorient Patrick Collot (LOSC coach): "It's disappointing because it was an important game for our league position. We had a good first half, we tried to squeeze them. At the beginning of the second half we were countered and then the team had great difficulty in keeping their composure. Lorient played very well, bringing speed to the game. We lacked balance and patience. We were rushed. We will have to integrate the new players quickly. It's going to take a little time." Bernard Casoni (Lorient coach): "We defended well. We were organised, disciplined, and yet we still had five or six chances on their goal. In order to survive in this division we must keep up this attitude. I think the players enjoyed it tonight. We were lucid in our play from start to finish, even when Lille played well. We are still fighting and as long as we have that spirit there is hope. We won't let go." Montpellier Hérault SC 2-1 SC Bastia Jean-Louis Gasset (Montpellier coach): "We wanted to take the three points, to have space to breathe. The first half was difficult and I was worried my team weren't confident, but they picked up. We had been tense over the last week so I started with an experienced team. I didn't want to put our young players under pressure. I'm going to sleep well tonight." François Ciccolini (Bastia coach): "We conceded two avoidable goals. We failed to mark, especially with the first goal. That's how it's been for the last 02/07/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 4

5 two months. We create many chances which we fail to take. Fear of losing may explain it. All our home games will be decisive. Everyone knows that we're in trouble. We think about it every day." Friday, 3 February, 2017 FC Metz 1-0 Olympique de Marseille Philippe Hinschberger (Metz coach): "The plan was to stay solid as we know we almost always score at home. You need to defend well to attack well. We saw Marseille's quality in the first half-hour. I was scared during that thirty minutes but we got better as the match went on and the substitutes were good. I must congratulate Sarr, Jouffre and Erding. We set our stall on more verticality to find our attackers, even if that's not a very glamorous way of playing. This is our second home win of 2017 without conceding and that's what I'll take from the game." Rudi Garcia (Marseille coach): "We knew this match was a banana skin and it would be difficult. We started pretty well but lacked the final ball and the finish. I told the players at half-time that if we didn't score then they would always be capable of scoring from a set-piece and that's what happened. Congratulations to Metz, but for us this goes down as three points dropped. I have no regrets when it comes to selection. We played 120 minutes on Tuesday and we were back in action three days later. I'm not making excuses. We should have been better to at least have taken a point." Cissé calls time on career Former AJ Auxerre and Olympique de Marseille striker Djibril Cisse has announced his retirement from the game. Cisse, 35, had first said his career was over in October 2015 due to him requiring a hip replacement. However, after having a successful operation last year, the former Liverpool forward started training with his first club, Auxerre, earlier this season in a bid to return to the game. He has finally had to admit defeat, however, bringing an end to a career that started in Auxerre with a 14-minute substitute appearance on 20 March, 1999, in a Ligue 1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. "I have loved being a footballer. Up till now, the ball was my whole life. I would have liked to have continued my career, which was interrupted in spite of me, but I have to admit today that football is finished," Cisse, who scored nine goals in 41 appearances for France, told Yahoo Sport. Cissé played 209 Ligue 1 games for Auxerre, OM and SC Bastia, for whom he made his last professional appearance in a 3-0 defeat in Marseille on the final day of the season. He scored 96 top-flight goals. 02/07/2017 Ligue de Football Professionnel / Ligue1.com 5