It was Thursday evening of European Cups all over the continent, in the Europa League and in the Europa League Conference.
French clubs have had mixed fortunes there.
The evening will have been nightmarish for Cristiano Ronaldo who, with Manchester winning in Nicosia (3-2), missed a goal that even a chick could have scored.
When it doesn't want...
Monaco revives, Ben Yedder enjoys
Monaco revived in Group H of the Europa League thanks to their victory over the Turks of Trabzonspor (3-1).
Ben Yedder scored a brace.
With six points, Monaco returned to the race for direct qualification in the round of 16.
For this, Philippe Clement's men will have to finish first in a group whose four protagonists (the two evening opponents, Ferencvaros and Red Star Belgrade) can qualify.
The Monegasques quickly set their pace.
The Turks suffered.
Uruguayan striker Maxi Gomez was sent off after a kick to the face by Camara.
The Turks cracked.
Wissam Ben Yedder took over a counter at the first post without control (1-0, 14th).
It took until the end of the half to see Vanderson get a penalty.
He took the goalkeeper on the wrong foot (2-0, 45th + 1).
The second period was managed by Monaco, who scored again from a Golovin corner.
Only, Monaco, anesthetized by its domination, was surprised by the goal of Bakasetas.
“In this group, there is no big difference between the four teams.
We have three finals left to qualify.
This is our challenge,” notes coach Philippe Clement.
𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗜𝗥𝗘 🔚😍
Contract completed for our Monegasques who win without trembling against @Trabzonspor!!!
✨ 3⃣
-1⃣ #ASMTS pic.twitter.com/RFdMo1h
– AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) October 6, 2022
Reindeer drops a symbol
Rennes took an option on qualification by winning (2-1) on the wire against Dynamo kyiv (2-1).
Without foreign players and forced to do with little, even very little, since the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian team found the resources to equalize and only gave in in the last minutes.
Second in their group, tied on points with Fenerbahçe, Bruno Genesio's men await Nantes on Sunday before returning to kyiv next week in Krakow, where the team plays its "home" matches.
Faced with well-organized Ukrainians in defense, Rennes multiplied the chances from the start of the match, without managing to set the sights.
Terrier found the fault on a strike from the right (1-0, 23rd).
At the half-hour mark, Rennes started dropping the ball to them.
In a scramble of the Rennes defense, Viktor Tsyhankov, forgotten in the area, saw the goalkeeper repel his first shot but not the second (1-1, 32nd).
Tsyhankov celebrated looking up at the sky, cheered on by the handful of Ukrainian fans and the 250 refugees invited by the club.
“For those who are now defending our country and supporting us, it is very important that we continue to play, and play well.
We improve their lives a little bit by doing it, ”assured the young 24-year-old winger the day before.
It was the very young Désiré Doué who delivered his own by intercepting a bad recovery to take the goalkeeper on the wrong foot (2-1, 89th).
Nantes gets into trouble
Powerless, Nantes logically lost to Friborg (2-0), a setback which complicates the Nantes mission.
With three points, Antoine Kombouaré's players are six points behind the Germans, before receiving the Friborg leader in a week, well on their way to winning for first place in the group.
Only the first of each group will qualify directly for the round of 16, while the second will have to go through a play-off against a team from the group stage of the Champions League.
𝗙𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵⏱
Our Yellow and Green bow on the lawn of SC Fribourg.
🔜 Next meeting, from Sunday against Rennes.
𝟮-𝟬 #SCFFCN pic.twitter.com/6nOvHW34nO
– FC Nantes (@FCNantes) October 6, 2022
After a dull first half hour of play, Freiburg took the game on its own.
Back from the locker room, Kyereh opened the scoring in the 48th.
Italian attacking midfielder Vincenzo Grifo doubled the lead in the 72nd minute, far too alone and entering the Nantes area far too easily.
Seven minutes later, Lafont saved his team from sinking by fending off a shot from Germany's Nils Pedersen which headed towards the goal.
In the last five minutes, Evann Guessan and especially Samuel Moutoussamy had the opportunity to reduce the score but neither of them managed to frame.
Nice finally imposes itself in Europe
After two draws, Nice finally won the Europa League Conference by beating FC Slovacko (1-0).
The Aiglons are back in a favorable position for qualification.
Nice took the lead in Group D with five points, a very decent record before finding the Czechs in a week at the Allianz Riviera.
While Nice have won very little this season, with only 2 wins in 11 games in all competitions, this success in the Czech Republic is welcome.
🔴🎙 Live I Lucien Favre's conference after the victory against Slovacko (0-1) #OGCNice #UECL https://t.co/KPtRz4cbGa
— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) October 6, 2022
In the small stadium in the city of Uherské Hradiste, the only goal of the match was scored by Nicolas Pépé (1-0, 54th).
Immediately after this shot, the match was interrupted for a few minutes, the Nice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka having received on the shoulder a filled cup, thrown by a Czech supporter.
The incident caused an interruption of about five minutes but the Polish goalkeeper was able to resume the game as normal.
The end of the match was then painful for Nice, who only defended, but resisted well.