A week after reasserting their ceiling, OL Lyonnes turned it into doctrine: an 8–1 demolition away to Lens with goals spread across the frontline. Nantes supplied the upset of the round by pressing Paris FC into a 3–1 defeat, while PSG took the pragmatic route with a 1–0 over Dijon. Elsewhere, Marseille found a ruthless gear at Saint-Étienne, Fleury leaned on their defensive spine, and Montpellier banked a composed, clinical home win.
Eight is a message: Lyonnes’ depth crushes Lens
Scorelines can mislead; this one told the truth. Lyonnes detonated the match with a first-minute press, then never let Lens settle. Vicki Becho set the tone—body open to both touchline and inside lane, she baited the full-back square and attacked whichever space was left. When Lens narrowed to crowd the dribble, Lyonnes punched through the half-spaces with third-player runs. When the hosts widened, the champions hit the seam behind the full-back and crashed the far post.
The method was brutally repeatable: regain → vertical pass → weak-side runner arrives late. It produced Becho’s hat-trick and a conveyor belt of chances that Liana Joseph turned into a rapid late brace after coming on—timed, back-shoulder bursts that punished a back line already retreating into its six-yard box. Tabitha Chawinga sprinted into channels to stretch the pitch, Melchie Dumornay stitched counters with first-time releases, and the counter-press trapped Lens in their own third.
Conceding once (Jeudy) barely changed the temperature. Lyonnes’ rest-defence—full-backs tucked in, six screening, centre-backs first to aerials—protected transitions so the front could gamble. The bigger takeaway is depth: Becho, Joseph, Chawinga and Dumornay sharing the sheet is the nightmare scouting report. This isn’t form; it’s a system that manufactures high-value runs on demand.
Player of the Week
Vicki Becho (OL Lyonnes)
Becho turned winger craft into scoreboard gravity. She dictated geometry: open-hip first touch to show inside, explode outside when the full-back squared; carry inside when the double came to unlock overlaps. Her pressing angles shaded the lane into Lens’s pivot, forcing hurried clearances that Lyonnes recycled into waves. In the box she mixed arrival types—one back-post sprint, one cut-back finish, one carry-and-strike—so the defence never got a second look at the same problem. Beyond the hat-trick, she kept tempo high with first-time layoffs and read Chawinga’s depth runs to become the second runner. It was everything you want from a modern wide forward: threat, intelligence, and non-stop cues for the team around her.
Around the Hexagon — FT scores & scorers
- Nantes 3–1 Paris FC — Calba, Khelifi, Robillard; Azzaro.
- PSG 1–0 Dijon — Karchaoui.
- Fleury 1–0 Le Havre — Caputo.
- Saint-Étienne 0–4 Marseille — Bourdieu (2), Herrera (2).
- Montpellier 2–0 Strasbourg — Tchakounté (og), Coquet.
Table impact & what’s next
Lyonnes sit alone at 12 points with a monster goal difference that already looks like a tiebreaker. A three-club pack—PSG, Paris FC, Nantes—clusters on nine, while Fleury lurks just behind. At the other end, Saint-Étienne remain winless and Lens’ early-season wobble hardens into a trend. Next up: Lyonnes–Nantes is a stress test for both narratives (depth vs. upset blueprint), while Paris FC–Marseille tells us if the shock was a blip or a bend in the race.