Monaco gave up a two-goal lead against Toulouse and came out with a draw with the taste of losing to its guest Toulouse 2-2, but maintained the lead, while defending champion Paris Saint-Germain achieved its third victory in a row by defeating its newly promoted guest Le Mans 3-1 on Saturday in the sixth stage of the French Football League.
At Stade Louis II, the Principality Club took the lead with goals from Idan Diop (29th) and Mathis Ablin (38th), but Toulouse responded in the second half through Danish Casper Tingsted (48th from a penalty kick) and Swedish substitute Sion Oppong (59th).
Despite this draw, Monaco remained in the lead with 14 points, one point ahead of Lille, the previous leader, who won over Le Havre 1-0.
The players of Brazilian coach Filipe Luis maintained their unbeaten record in League 1 with 4 wins and two draws, but they failed to benefit from the loss of third Lyon to Lens 1-2 on Friday in the opening of the competitions and Paris FC fourth to Lorient 0-1, to move further away.
At the Parc des Princes Stadium*, the defending champion benefited the most by claiming the three points after defeating Le Mans with three alternating goals scored by Brazilian Lucas Peraldo in the 19th minute from a penalty kick awarded to the defending champion following a handball after returning to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR*).
It is the third victory in a row for Saint-Germain after its victory over Brest 1-0 and Marseille 2-1 before the international break, and the fourth in various competitions after it began the Champions League competition with a sweeping victory over Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia 6-1.
Spanish striker Ferran Torres (7 goals in 6 matches in all competitions) played as a starter in the capital club's squad despite the doubts surrounding him as a result of his ankle injury while defending the colors of his country's national team.
Before returning to the Champions League competitions to face Manchester City, the men of Spanish coach Luis Enrique moved closer to the top three places after raising their score to 11 points, ranked fifth on goal difference behind Lyon and Paris FC.
Lille achieved a difficult victory over its guest, numerically inferior Le Havre, 1-0, scored by Dylan Bakwa 5 minutes after the starting whistle, in a match that witnessed the expulsion of the Japanese defender of the visiting team, Ayumu Seko, with a red card in the 61st minute.
The victory came before a dangerous trip to London on Tuesday to face Arsenal in the second round of the unified group of the Champions League competition.
On the other hand, Le Havre, which is still searching for its first win this season, suffered its fourth loss compared to two draws, so its score froze at two points in the last eighteenth place.
The men of Italian coach Davide Ancelotti, the son of the outstanding coach Carlo, suffered a painful blow when their fellow Portuguese defender Thiago Santos was injured in the right knee and left on a stretcher (22).
Despite its numerical superiority, Lille posed little threat to goalkeeper Gautier Gallon, with the exception of a free kick executed by Algerian international Nabil Bentaleb that hit the crossbar (77). He also lost another player due to injury, left-back Roman Peru (73), who is expected to miss the match against Arsenal.
The stage will be completed on Sunday, with Nice playing Strasbourg, Rennes playing Auxerre, and Troyes playing Marseille.
Real Madrid narrowly won over its guest, Villarreal, 1-0, in the team's first test after the end of the international break, in the eighth round of the Spanish League on Saturday evening.
Ivorian Yann Diomande scored the only goal for the Madrid giants in the 62nd minute of the match, which was held among their fans in the stands of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
The referee canceled a second goal scored by Vinicius Junior in the 71st minute, and decided to show the red card to the Brazilian star because one of the opposing players pulled his hair at the beginning of the attack.
With this difficult victory, Real Madrid overcame the defeat in the derby against Atletico Madrid in the last round, raising its score to 18 points, and jumping again to third place in the table, ahead of Atletico with 19 points, then Barcelona in the lead with 24 points, achieving the full mark with 8 victories in the first 8 rounds.
Real Madrid is preparing for an away match against Italian club Roma next Wednesday in the Champions League, after which it will host Sevilla on Sunday next week in the ninth round of La Liga.
As for Villarreal, its score stuck at 8 points in tenth place, and it will have two consecutive matches at home against Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday, then Elche in the league three days later.
