Lorient up to 2nd in French league with 6th straight win

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This article was published 09/10/2022 (1452 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PARIS (AP) — Terem Moffi scored twice as surprise package Lorient climbed to second place in the French league by rallying past Brest 2-1 on Sunday.

Lorient stretched its winning streak to six games to trail leader Paris Saint-Germain by a point.

Moffi equalized with a half-volley off the far post in the 24th minute. The Nigeria forward scored the winner in the 53rd by side-footing a loose ball into the net. His eighth league goal of the season tied PSG strikers Kylian Mbappe and Neymar as the top scorers.

Brest slipped to last place despite opening the scoring in the 17th with a header from Romain Del Castillo.

Elsewhere, fourth-place Lens lost its unbeaten record with a 1-0 defeat at Lille in the “Derby of the North.”

Canada striker Jonathan David raised his tally to seven league goals by converting a penalty in the 44th after Lens defender Massadio Haidara pulled back Benjamin Andre on a corner.

Lens had the chance to take the lead in the 16th after Jose Fonte tripped Deiver Machado, but Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier saved Florian Sotoca’s spot kick.

The 20-year-old Chevalier definitely rose to the occasion in his first derby.

“I had a lot of pressure. That was tough to handle from the beginning to the end,” Chevalier told Amazon Prime Video. “(Goalkeeper) Mike Maignan called me in the afternoon. I was having a nap … He told me: ‘You’d better not screw up!’ Tons of pressure, you know.”

Maignan played for Lille from 2015 to 2021 before joining AC Milan.

Lille kept its first clean sheet this season.

American forward Tim Weah came off the Lille bench in the 73rd to play his first minutes this season. He missed an open goal in stoppage time with a sliding effort that bounced over the bar. Weah was sidelined by a foot injury this summer and is trying to get ready for the World Cup.

Breel Embolo and Myron Boadu scored to give Monaco a 2-0 win over midtable Montpellier. Monaco moved within three points of third-place Marseille with its fifth straight win in the league.

A few seconds before halftime, Wissam Ben Yedder fed Switzerland striker Embolo, who fired into the roof of the net for his fourth league goal this season.

Embolo was replaced in the 72nd by Dutch forward Myron Boadu, who doubled the lead by converting a low cross from Caio Henrique in the 80th.

Rennes routed Nantes 3-0 in the Brittany derby to remain sixth.

France Under-21 forward Amine Gouiri put Rennes ahead with a header in the 26th before setting up Martin Terrier for the second goal in the 80th. Academy player Desire Doue sealed the win in the 84th with a powerful strike into the top corner. Doue became the youngest Frenchman to score in a European game at 17 years and 125 days when he netted a late winner against Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League on Thursday.

“He has everything to have a great career,” Rennes coach Bruno Genesio told Canal Plus television. “He is a fast learner and understands quickly. I hope that we will keep him for a long time.”

Rennes lost Joe Rodon in the 89th as the Wales international was sent off for fouling Mostafa Mohamed as the last defender.

After a poor start to the season, Nice remained in the bottom half of the table despite beating Troyes 3-2 with goals from Mattia Viti, Andy Delort and Nicolas Pepe.

Strasbourg earned its first win of the season by edging Angers 3-2 with goals from Kevin Gameiro and Habib Diallo and an own-goal from Miha Blazic. Angers has the most porous defense in the league and dropped into the relegation zone.

Grejohn Kyei scored a goal and had an assist to lead Clermont to a 2-1 victory over promoted Auxerre.

PSG drew with Reims 0-0 on Saturday.

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