Sochaux’s Six-Goal Sonata, Lyon’s Late Reprieve

4-2. FC Sochaux-Montbéliard’s Sunday began in alarm and ended in command: two goals down to Stade Malherbe Caen after 13 minutes, they scored four without reply and strengthened their hold on fourth place in Ligue 1 Uber Eats.

The drama belonged first to Daniel Soumahoro. He struck after three minutes with a close-range shot, then drove in another ten minutes later. Caen had made the match feel abruptly simple: Sochaux were behind, and had to answer. They did, with Roee Alon’s low volley on 33 minutes opening the door, then Miguel Ángel Ureña’s equaliser in first-half stoppage time.

After the interval, Mathieu Atangana gave Sochaux the lead on the hour, finding a high finish near a post from outside the box. Vincent Nurudeen’s low, hard strike from outside the box on 67 minutes settled the score at 4-2. There was a kind of calm in the reversal: no panic, only the patient correction of a wrong note.

Atangana was the outstanding figure, his display earning the day’s most striking individual praise. He is a model of constancy at Sochaux, and Sunday offered that virtue in its most vivid form: a goal, and a performance that helped transform a rescue into a win. Before a crowd of 23,155, Sochaux held fourth on 53 points, three behind OGC Nice and two ahead of AS Monaco. Caen remained 15th.

Lyon win the argument, just

Olympique Lyonnais remain leaders, but Dijon FCO made them earn the right to leave with all three points. Julio Barone put Lyon ahead on 16 minutes with a low, hard strike from close range, then scored again just before half-time with a low shot. The match seemed to be falling into the familiar grammar of a leader’s afternoon.

Dijon rewrote it. Makhtar Diallo pulled one back three minutes after the break with a shot along the ground, then headed an equaliser high from close range on 80 minutes. The tension had become tangible: Lyon’s authority was no longer enough by itself. Franck Ekwalla restored the lead on 88 minutes, his low finish near a post deciding a 3-2 victory.

Barone was the game’s leading presence, but the final word belonged to Ekwalla. Lyon stay first with 70 points from 31 games, seven ahead of FC Nantes. Their next league test is against OGC Nice on 2 May; the leaders will arrive there with a narrow escape still fresh in the mind. Dijon remain 18th, at the bottom and in the relegation zone, with 14 points.

Dali gives Marseille a clean page

Olympique de Marseille beat RC Lens 3-0 on Sunday, a decisive result in front of 48,949. Ali Dali scored on 34 minutes with a low shot from close range near a post, and Alex Mahe doubled the lead with a close-range header that went along the ground after the break. Dali completed the scoring with another header, high and near a post, on 87 minutes.

Dali was the match’s central figure: two goals, a key pass and three shots on target. Marseille’s win places them sixth; Lens are 16th, just above the bottom two. The margin is real, but safety is not a word Lens can take for granted.

Troyes and Lorient climb

ESTAC Troyes edged FC Girondins de Bordeaux 1-0, Ronan Vuillemin’s close-range header near a post on 45 minutes proving enough. Troyes rose from 15th to 11th. FC Lorient also moved upwards, from 16th to 13th, after beating LOSC Lille 2-1. Philippe Andre headed them ahead on 17 minutes; Olav Nymoen equalised with a high shot from outside the box, before Gustavo Salmerón scored from the penalty spot on 84 minutes. Nymoen was named the match’s best performer despite Lille’s defeat.

The round’s other draw had a late pulse. RC Strasbourg Alsace led Nîmes Olympique through Tunoa Tufariua’s volley and Mika Hautala’s shot from outside the box, both before the half-hour. Cláudio Pinto’s low header near a post began Nîmes’s recovery; Sil Harmsma’s high header on 86 minutes completed it. Nîmes sit ninth. Strasbourg are 17th with 23 points, while Dijon are 18th with 14. Lyon lead, Sochaux hold their ground, and at the foot of the table every rescued point now carries the weight of a season.