Blast from the past as Saint Etienne beat Nantes

There was a hint of nostalgia in Ligue 1 on Sunday as Saint-Etienne beat Nantes 1-0, the two clubs having won 15 league titles between them in a 20-year stretch up to the early 1980's.

On an afternoon of glorious sunshine, thousands of fans went bare-chested in the stands at a packed and boisterous Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, where Franck Tabanou's thunderbolt free kick on 18 minutes was enough to give three precious points to Europe-chasing Saint-Etienne.

Between 1964 and 1983, the two clubs won 15 titles between them, nine going to Saint Etienne (Marseille and Monaco got two each and Strasbourg the other), as they dominated the French scene.

Saint-Etienne are currently fifth and eyeing Europa League qualification, but to avoid disruptive early qualifying rounds in August they are targeting a fourth-place finish, which they also managed last season.

Sunday's win also helped them get over the disappointment of Wednesday's 4-1 defeat to PSG in the French Cup semi-finals.
Nantes, for their part, have re-established themselves as a mid-table side after promotion two seasons ago, their last French title coming in 2001.

Paris Saint-Germain lead Ligue 1 on 62 points, ahead of Lyon on 61, but neither side plays this weekend because of Saturday's League Cup final, where PSG beat Bastia 4-0.

Monaco beat Caen on Friday to climb up to third on 58 points, while Marseille are fourth on 57 ahead of their late game on Sunday at in-form Bordeaux, where they can climb back into the third and final Champions League qualifying spot.

French football is on something of a high right now with Paris hosting Barcelona on Wednesday in a glamour Champions League quarter-final first-leg after a 'generational' victory over Chelsea in the last-16.

Meanwhile, Monaco are also in the last eight and travel to Italian giants Juventus on Tuesday in confident mood having won their last four away games in Ligue 1 and beating Arsenal in the last round.

PSG's defence of their League Cup title on Saturday, which featured doubles from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani, means their League game with Metz, originally scheduled for this weekend, will now be played on April 28th, while Lyon's game with Bastia will be played this Wednesday.

Elsewhere on Sunday the 19-year-old rookie striker Said Benrahma's 4th minute strike was enough to give Nice a 1-0 at Reims, while Lille grabbed a 1-0 win at Evian after a generously awarded penalty, converted by Sofiane Boufal.

Relegation-threatened Toulouse won 1-0 at home over Montpellier, bottom side Lens slugged out a 0-0 draw with Lorient while in the Brittany derby Rennes beat 10-man Guingamp 1-0.
Source: AFP