EURO BITES: Ligue 1 - French football honours Paris attack victims, PSG extend lead again, Lille to appoint Antonetti, and Rennes' penalty jinx continues

Jonathan Johnson rounds up the weekend action from Ligue 1 as the country honours the Paris victims.

LIGUE 1 PAYS TRIBUTE TO PARIS ATTACK VICTIMS

French domestic football resumed last weekend after the recent international break and all Ligue 1 teams took to the pitch for the first time since the Paris terror attacks.

Across Le Championnat and Ligue 2, not to mention further afield, the footballing world paid tribute to the 130 victims in a variety of ways. France’s national anthem, La Marseillaise, was sung before every sporting fixture in the country, but some teams made special gestures.

French champions Paris Saint-Germain played in commemorative shirts as they beat FC Lorient 2-1 away thanks to Hervin Ongenda and Blaise Matuidi goals. The latter celebrated by dedicating his goal to the victims and pre-match, doves of peace were released on the pitch.

Elsewhere, AS Saint-Etienne also played in a customised shirt in their 2-0 home defeat to Olympique de Marseille. Ligue 1’s October Player of the Month, Michy Batshuayi, opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season before Georges-Kevin N'Koudou secured the points.

Lassana Diarra, who lost his cousin in the Paris attacks but still played as France lost 2-0 to England at Wembley Stadium last Tuesday, started for OM despite the club giving him time off after returning from international duty.

PSG OPEN UP 13-POINT LEAD WITH LORIENT WIN

PSG’s 2-1 win away at Lorient moved Laurent Blanc’s men a provisional 13 points clear on Saturday and that sizeable gap was confirmed on Sunday after SM Caen and Angers SCO’s 0-0 draw in Lower Normandy.

Second placed Olympique Lyonnais were beaten 3-0 away at OGC Nice on Friday, with Valere Germain and Vincent Koziello strikes sandwiching a Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa own goal. The latter’s horrible display earned him an infamous one out of 10 rating in L’Equipe, something that has only happened 10 times since 1998.

With PSG due to host Lyon next month, the chances of that 13-point advantage being extended before the winter break are strong.

LILLE CHOOSE ANTONETTI TO SUCCEED RENARD

After parting ways with Herve Renard at the start of the international break, Lille OSC have chosen his replacement.

In a statement on the club’s official website, Les Dogues confirmed that Frederic Antonetti will sign a contract to take over at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Monday before being introduced to the press on Tuesday.

The 54-year-old last coached Stade Rennais and left the Breton side back in 2013. Before that, Antonetti was in charge of Nice, Saint-Etienne and Japanese side Gamba Osaka in between two spells with SC Bastia on his native island of Corsica.

GAZELEC AJACCIO’S ASTONISHING FORM CONTINUES IN CORSICAN DERBY

Not even the international break and a one-day delay to their Corsican derby away at Bastia because of strong winds could halt Gazelec Ajaccio’s impressive recent revival.

After stringing together three consecutive wins just before the recent pause, Thierry Laurey’s men registered a fourth successive victory with a 2-1 success at Stade Armand Cesari (Furiani) on Sunday.

Brandao gave the hosts the lead after five minutes, but a Jacques Zoua penalty and a strike from Khalid Boutaib 20 minutes from time secured the points and the bragging rights for Ajaccio’s second team.

The result has lifted Gazelec out of Ligue 1’s relegation places for the first time since August.

VALBUENA JETS TO NICE AFTER SEX TAPE BLACKMAIL COURT APPEARANCE

Lyon had to provide a private jet in order to make sure that Mathieu Valbuena was able to start their 3-0 defeat away at Nice on Friday.

The 31-year-old appeared in court in Versailles, just outside of Paris, earlier in the day in relation to the blackmail scandal which has led to fellow France international Karim Benzema being charged with conspiracy to blackmail.

Valbuena successfully made it to Allianz Riviera in time after his court appearance, but was unable to prevent Hubert Fournier’s men from going down 3-0 to Les Aiglons before being substituted 13 minutes from the end.

RENNES’ PENALTY MISERY CONTINUES IN BORDEAUX DRAW

Rennes’ penalty curse in Ligue 1 struck again on Sunday when Giovanni Sio’s stoppage time penalty was saved by Girondins de Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso.

The Ivory Coast international’s inability to score from the spot means that Philippe Montanier’s men have now failed to find the net from any of their last six penalties in Le Championnat.

Carrasso’s save secured a point for Bordeaux, after Enzo Crivelli and Diego Contento had cancelled out Ousmane Dembele and Kamil Grosicki goals. Les Girondins’ Nicolas Pallois, who had earlier been substituted, saw red from the touchline late on.