Gary O’Neil has rediscovered his joie de vivre at Strasbourg | Luke Entwistle

“Un bon match,” said Gary O’Neil as he walked into the press room, large mug in hand, after Strasbourg’s entertaining 1-1 draw with Lens. You can’t say the Englishman hasn’t embraced the move to Alsace since being named Liam Rosenior’s successor at the start of January; all that was missing was the minuscule espresso to complete the Londoner turned cultured European vibe.

His drink would have gone cold by the end of his 28-minute post-match press conference, which he delivered with a Cheshire cat grin that sometimes broke into a slight blush. There were even a few phrases in French. “I have another lesson on Monday. Hopefully, I’ll bring some more French next week,” he joked on his way out of the door, giving a shoutout to his teacher, Ella.

O’Neil is growing in confidence in his first job outside the UK and, in light of recent results, with good reason. He said his team was “en forme” – that one doesn’t need much translation – on Friday night. The match against Lens marked the end of a gruelling run, during which Strasbourg faced Ligue 1’s top five teams in the space of six matches. From those five, they took eight points from a possible 15 against Paris Saint-Germain, Lens, Lyon, Marseille and Lille, only losing to the European champions.

Their draw against Marseille a fortnight ago was more than deserved and their 3-1 win over Lyon the following weekend ended what was the longest winning run in Europe’s top five leagues; Lyon had won 13 matches in a row before their defeat at Strasbourg. O’Neil was asked if recent results show his team can compete with the big boys. “I think so,” he replied. “Eight points from five matches doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a good spell.” Despite the tough opposition, Strasbourg have picked up 1.89 points per game in his first nine matches in charge – slightly above what his predecessor achieved (1.75).

The performance against Lens was not the best of O’Neil’s short reign. “It was OK,” he said. It started well enough. The club’s ultras continued their customary 15-minute strike at the start the game, a protest against the owners, BlueCo, and multi-club ownership more broadly. But they were on their feet in the 18th minute thanks to an excellent chipped finish from Ligue 1’s joint-top scorer Joaquín Panichelli, who latched on to an underhit backpass from Lens centre-back Ismaëlo Ganiou.

Joaquín Panichelli scored his 14th league goal of the season in Strasbourg’s 1-1 draw against Lens. Photograph: Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

But, thereafter, the best chances fell to the visitors. Odsonne Édouard could have scored twice in the first half but failed to hit the target on both occasions. Around the hour-mark, a trio of presentable chances fell to Florian Thauvin: the first a free header off target, the second drawing a strong save from Mike Penders at his near post, and the third would have found the back of the net but for an Ismaël Doukouré block. From the resulting corner, however, the pressure did finally tell as Mamadou Sangaré blasted home from the edge of the box to make it 1-1.

The barrage then relented, with Lucas Høgsberg’s introduction and Strasbourg’s subsequent switch to a back three effective in mitigating the threat posed by Lens. “He gave us more control,” said O’Neil. “But I expected us to control the game for longer.”

Strasbourg failed to pose a threat of their own. O’Neil’s changes were late and, notably, he opted against bringing on Gessime Yassine or Sebastian Nanasi, the only two attacking options on the bench, due to the absences of Samuel Amo-Ameyaw, Emanuel Emegha and David Datro Fofana. O’Neil said he was reluctant to bring the pair on due to Lens’ “intensity” – not the biggest display of faith.

“The plan was to make more changes but we felt as though, with Lens’ physicality, it suited certain players more than others,” said O’Neil. Some fans have questioned his tactics but the quality of opposition has to be factored in. “Une équipe excellente [an excellent team],” said O’Neil when asked about Lens, who remain PSG’s most realistic challengers in the league, even if they now have a four-point deficit to overturn. Lens were always going to be up for this game after their defeat by Monaco last weekend. When Pierre Sage took over last summer he stressed the importance of never losing back-to-back league games and, extraordinarily, Lens are yet to do so this season.

“Strasbourg are one of the most spectacular teams in our league, but they didn’t put in the same performance as last week, and I hope it is because of us,” joked Sage after the game. “They are a proactive team who take the game to you, even if they make an error. I said last season there was a lot of bravery in Rosenior’s team and I congratulated him for that. What we see now is in-keeping with that.”

O’Neil said he wanted his side to be “more intense, more brave” when he joined in January, adding that they would be “tactically different” but that changes would come “little by little”. He has done it while playing against France’s elite. “It is the end of a hard run. We’ve got ourselves in a good spot. We’ve played everyone above us, bar Rennes. On paper, we have an opportunity to push,” he said.

The task now is to back up these results with performances against the sides in the bottom half. O’Neil’s only misstep so far was a surprise defeat to Le Havre. Strasbourg’s next four league games are against relegation strugglers. But, before that, there is a Coupe de France quarter-final on Tuesday against Reims, whose name he managed to pronounce correctly. “Was that good pronunciation? I’ve been practising that one for days,” he said with a laugh. Like with his French, it is step-by-step for O’Neil at Strasbourg, but he has survived the baptism of fire.

Talking points

Marseille spent last week at a training camp in Marbella and – to tweak the saying – they were still on the beach when Corentin Tolisso put Lyon ahead within three minutes on Sunday. Lyon had chances to put Marseille away and were punished for their failure to do so. Igor Paixão’s entrance at half-time was inspired; he equalised in the 52nd minute with a superb strike from outside the box. Rémi Himbert restored Lyon’s lead before Paixão teed up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to pull Marseille level again. Paixão was involved again as Marseille won the match in injury time thanks to a late goal from Aubameyang. Habib Beye is up and running at Marseille, who are just two points behind third-placed Lyon.

PSG extended their lead at the top, but they were unconvincing – again. Bradley Barcola scored the only goal on their visit to Le Havre. Fluency and confidence in attack continue to be issues. They do not look likely to retain the Champions League, but the LFP has given them a helping hand, postponing their game against Nantes, which was sandwiched between their two games against Chelsea. “It is important for France,” said Luis Enrique. The same fixture was postponed last season to help PSG prepare for their matches against Aston Villa.

This is an article by Get French Football News