Ligue 1 Top Five, Round 16: Three 10s on Tuesday, including Josh Maja
Maja contributed to four of his team's goals with a hat-trick and an assist in Bordeaux's comprehensive 6-0 defeat of Nimes. The game was delayed for more than 25 minutes due to Bordeaux Ultras actually entering the field to protest against the American ownership of the club. As things recommenced, Maja took the game by the scruff of the neck and scored the opening three goals to earn his hat-trick before setting up the fourth for Nicolas de Preville. His first two goals displayed a veteran instinct belying his years to beat the opposition offside trap to coolly finish beyond the keeper. The third was a bit more inventive, as he somehow dug a looping strike over the goalkeeper from inside the box with little backlift.
While Maja will grab the headlines after his hat-trick, Otavio put in a cracking performance for Bordeaux also, scoring two goals. His first saw him latch on to a through-pass into the box to pick out a curled finish into the corner, while his second was drilled low into the opposite corner from 30 yards, with the goalkeeper taking too long to get across. His rating is boosted by his outstanding passing stats, as he completed an incredible 103/107 attempted passes for a success rate of 96%. The Brazilian also had the third-most touches of any player in Ligue 1 this midweek with 125.
Another hat-trick hero now, this time coming via Battocchio of Brest, who destroyed Strasbourg 5-0 to move up to 12th in the table. It was a hell of a three goals, too, even if the first did take a deflection on its way to the top corner. There was nothing fortuitous about the next two, however, as he lashed a cracking strike into the top right corner from 25 yards before opening up his foot to guide a lovely finish into the same corner from inside the box for his third. He also won the penalty which was converted by Ferris N'Goma for the fifth.
After Kasper Dolberg equalised for Nice in the 14th minute, it seemed to anger the home side who went on to score three more to make it 4-1. The second of the goals was scored by Hamouma, who beat the offside trap to find himself one-on-one with the keeper before whipping a perfect finish into the corner. He then turned provider for the fourth and final goal with a curled free-kick into the box which was emphatically headed home by Denis Bouanga. The winger made three ball recoveries and had 50 touches throughout the game, while successfully putting a huge nine crosses into the box for team-mates.
Sticking with Saint-Etienne, Bouanga got the goalscoring ball rolling fairly early on with a well-taken penalty before setting up the third goal five minutes before the break with a corner into the area for Wesley Fofana to score. He would eventually claim his second goal, and the one which would ultimately take the game beyond Nice, with a very impressive towering header sent into the left corner after the aforementioned delivery from Hamouma. He completed four dribbles, won the majority of his duels, and made eight ball recoveries for his team.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Valentin Rongier (8.7) was excellent in midfield for Marseille in the 2-0 away victory over Angers, winning 13 duels, 7/9 tackles, as well as making 10 ball recoveries, four interceptions, and two clearances.
ROUND TO FORGET
No surprise to see a couple of Nimes players in here after the demolition by Bordeaux. Goalkeeper Paul Bernardoni (4.3) conceded six and only made two saves, while defender Florian Miguel (4.5) failed to make a single tackle or even make one interception.