Week of October 16 - 23

Welcome to my blog. I intend to give a week-by-week rundown of all French Ligue 1 action, including teams appearing in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions.


SCORES

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UEFA Champions League

October 17

Dynamo Kiev 0 - 3 Lyon
Lille 3 - 1 AEK Athens

October 18

Bordeaux 0 - 1 Liverpool FC

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UEFA Cup

October 19

Maccabi Haifa 3 - 1 Auxerre
Rapid Bucharesti 0 - 0 PSG

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Ligue 1

October 21

Lille 1 - 0 Lorient
AS Nancy Lorraine 1 - 0 Nantes
Monaco 1 - 3 Toulouse
Rennes 1 - 0 Nice
Sedan 2 - 2 Lens
Sochaux 2 - 1 Bordeaux
St Etienne 2 - 0 Le Mans
Valenciennes 3 - 1 Troyes

October 22

Auxerre 0 - 0 PSG
Marseille 1 - 4 Lyon

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This week's UEFA champions league campaign was an interesting one for French sides as Lyon was matched up against must-win Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine. Juninho's fine trademark free-kick got Lyon their first goal, followed by a strike by former Rennes midfielder and Swedish international Kim Kallstrom, Lyon's victory was assured with Malouda's header off another Juninho free kick. With this victory Lyon continues their Champions League unbeaten streak, digging Dynamo's grave at the same time.

Lille played AEK Athens at the Stade Félix Bollaert in Lens, due to the home side's Stadium Lille-Metropole not meeting UEFA's stadium standards. Lille claimed second place in Group H behind AC Milan with a victory over AEK Athens. The home side looked the classier throughout with Mathieu Robail, Daniel Gygax and Jean Makoun providing the goals. AEK spent most of the match rolling on the ground looking for cards and penalties, and found one on an innocent challenge from the Lille defender.

Bordeaux needed a win against Liverpool, and failed to find it. Desperation tactics were in order for the home side in most of the second half as Peter Crouch's 58th minute goal sealed victory for the visitors and put the Girondins at the bottom of Group C.

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In UEFA Cup action, Israeli side Maccabi Haifa beat Auxerre convincingly at home, scoring three goals and taking down Group A favorites at the same time. Daniel Niculae scored the only goal for hapless Auzerre, as they find themselves at the bottom of the table after matchday one. Auxerre continues their daunting away schedule against Rangers at Ibrox.

PSG's away game in Romania was an exercise in futility as the visitors played to a draw with Rapid Bucharest. Boredom ensued as the home side held the high profile visitors to a nil-nil draw, and thankfully I didn't have to watch it.

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Saturday's Ligue 1 Draws took a backseat to the much more high-profile Lyon - Marseille match on Sunday, nonetheless they held some intriguing table prospects.

Lille's 1 - 0 win against Lorient was essential, as it pushed the home side up to 5th in the table, while Lorient Dropped to 15th. Mathieu Bodmer scored the only goal in the 36th minute on a penalty, and that was all that was needed to secure the victory.

AS Nancy entered their fixture with Nantes soon after the news came down from UEFA that they were not allowed to wear their jersey in their UEFA cup campaign featuring the slogan "no to racism" around the neck. UEFA explained that only sponsors were allowed on that part of the jersey, and that they had their own "no to racism" campaign. It seems a little ridiculous to me that corporate sponsorship is more important than addressing an important social issue. I digress though, and tell you that Nancy's goal from Michaël Chrétien in the 53rd minute kept them 3rd in the table and kept Nantes in relegation position at the bottom of the table.

Monaco's form continued to decline as they lost at home with ten men, Toulouse scoring 3 goals on the home side placing them in 4th for this week, and driving the Monte Carlo side to 19th.

In an important fixture at the Stade de le Route-de-Lorient in Rennes, the home side dispatched Nice one to nil as Olivier Monterubbio put away a penalty in the 58th minute. Nice had been reduced to ten men at the 8th minute. The win was important for Rennes as their early form flirted with relegation, and they were able to keep themselves a respectable 14th, while Nice enjoys their stay in 17th.

Sedan drew 2 -2 with Lens at home, pulling a point out of their hat with a thrilling equalizer by Marcus Nwambo Mokake in the 90th minute, pushing the home side up to 16th in the ever-tight Ligue 1 standings.

Sochaux handed Bordeaux their second loss of the week, swapping the 8th and 9th places in the table. Bordeaux's only goal came in the 90th minute on Ducasse's penalty, but it was too late. Bordeaux's form contiues to slide domestically and internationally with this loss.

St. Etienne's victory over Le Mans was just what they needed, although Le Mans lost their first string goalkeeper in the process. The match became a bit grubby with St. Etienne's Frederic Piquionne eventually getting sent off, and three other Yellows being dealt. Le Mans had many chances to equalize, but was unable to make good.

Valenciennes made their campaign a little more worthwhile with a win against Troyes. Both sides ended up with ten men by the end of the match, but the home side prevailed and moved into the top half of the table. Sebastien Roudet scored twice and Thomas Dossevi scored once for the home side, giving the Northerners the edge. Troyes moves down into a disappointing relegation 18th.

Sunday's action began with a match between two teams with little luck in Europe over the week. Both teams looked to improve their form, having set up camp in the bottom half of the table the week before. However, both teams failed to even score a goal as their domestic fortunes failed to improve by much. Auxerre's point leapfrogged them into 12th, passin.h spot.

By far the premier match of the week in Ligue 1 was the Lyon - Marseille match at the Stade Velodrome. Lyon began the match 5 points up on Marseille at the top of the table, attempting to continue a five-match domestic winning streak. Tension between the two clubs has always been high, but midweek comments by Marseille boss Pape Diouf strained the relationship even further. The comments were a reaction to Gerard Houllier's earlier suggestion that Marseille's table position was only due to favorable refereeing in recent matches. "I think there is a permanent paranoia at Lyon as soon as they feel us breathing down their necks," said Diouf, "They're cry babies at Lyon. They are sabotaging our work." Marseille winger Franck Ribery was also in the rumour mill over the week with a move to North London speculated, although Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger denies this. Alas for the home side, victory was not on the agenda. Juninho's free kick in the 20th minute sent the visitors up 1-0, followed by Benzema's strike in the 48th. The home side got one back courtesy of Habib Bamogo after being reduced to ten men early in the second half. Juninho and Kallstrom then scored late goals to make the final score 4-1. Lyon continues to run the table with an 8 point lead over second place Marseille, and only a serious drop in form could cause the Champions to fall at this point.