Week of November 6-13

SCORES
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Ligue 1

November 10

Lyon 2-1 Valenciennes

November 11

Bordeaux 0-0 Auxerre
Le Mans 1-1 PSG
Lens 0-0 Rennes
Lorient 2-0 Nancy
Nantes 2-2 St. Etienne
Nice 0-0 Sochaux
Toulouse 3-1 Sedan

November 12

Troyes 0-4 Monaco
Lille 1-0 Marseille

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On Friday Lyon hosted Valenciennes in an important match at the Stade Gerland. Lyon just came off a disappointing first loss of the season away to Rennes. Valenciennes were trounced 3 goals to nil at home against Lille, and looked the weaker side in all respects, and I’m sure would have been quite happy with a draw. After 75 minutes of nothing, the visitors struck first with a goal from Steve Savidan. Lyon responded in turn by popping in two goals in the dying minutes of the match to win, making a remarkable comeback. Lyon’s Karim Benzema and Sidney Govou left the game early with Knee and Hip injuries, respectively. Final score, Lyon 2-1 Valenciennes.

Slumping Bordeaux were needing a home result as 15th place Auxerre came a-calling to the Girondins. Effectively knocked out of Champions League competition, Bordeaux needed to concentrate on their league form if they wanted to get into Cup contention next year. Their defeat at Nancy last week put that much more pressure on them to prove that they weren’t just a flash in the pan. Solid end-to-end action with a lack of finishing was the name of the game here. Both teams with many, many chances to score, but Bordeaux was only able to squeak out a draw at home, the match ending nil-nil.

Mid table, the match between Le Mans and PSG was the second match that PSG striker Pauleta was unavailable for. An absence of forward quality was felt in their match against Lens at home the week before, when they were trounced 3-1. Le Mans had squeaked out a win against Auxerre, and certainly had the goods to hold PSG at bay. PSG got off to a good start as Bonaventure Kalou converted a penalty to put the visitors up 1-0. Le Mans quickly countered though, with Lucau scoring just before halftime. Nobody was able to change the score after 45 more minutes, playing to a 1-1 draw.

Heading into the Stade Felix-Bollaert, Rennes had a chance to prove that their brilliant display against Lyon at home the week before wasn’t just a fluke, but the absence of injured captain Olivier Monterubbio shook the squad a bit. Lens were in fine form sitting at 4th in the table and a couple of wins behind them, including a decisive one away in Paris the week before. Scrappy Rennes held Lens off for 90 minutes, getting a few good chances in the process, but the draw takes Lens up into second place with Nancy’s loss at Lorient.

Lorient had their work cut out for them against an unbelievable Nancy side that sneaked their way up into second last week, that said the boys from southern Brittany shocked last week’s second place holders Marseille a goal to nil away. Nancy needed a win to keep pace with Lyon and perhaps sneak up on the title holders. Midfielder Ulrich LePen scored a surprising goal for Lorient in the 67th minute, making the case for the Brittany side against the second place holders. Lorient finished Nancy off with a late goal by Namouchi, Shocking the visitors and the bookmakers with the 2-0 scoreline.

A win would take Nantes out of the relegation zone and they needed a confidence boost against St. Etienne who blasted Toulouse 3-0 the previous week. Nantes opened the scoring with a goal from Eric Cubellier, only to see their lead negated in first-half injury time with a Feindouno strike. The two sides traded goals once more in the second half, ending the game 2-2

Sochaux came into Nice the favoured side, sitting pretty in 5th place. Nice needed a boost after drawing with lowly Monaco in Monte Carlo the week before, and to keep any relegation thoughts out of their minds. Sochaux were thwarted by Nice keeper Hugo Lloris who came up big, keeping his side in the match, and holding for a nil-nil draw. A disappointing result for Sochaux who were gunning for second place in the table, and a good result for Nice, who needed a draw at least.

Toulouse had been knocked down a peg by St. Etienne and were seeking to recover a few points against the 19th place team. Sedan hadn’t won in the past four matches, only squeaking a draw out at Nantes. Fabinho scored in the 45th minute to take the home side into the dressing room a goal up. Another goal early in the second half put Toulouse in the driver’s seat. Sedan got one back in the 66th minute giving them a ray of hope to manage a draw. Their hopes were dashed, however, by a second goal from Johan Elmander, ending the match at three goals to one.

Troyes certainly weren’t looking a formidable foe for most teams, but for Monaco any team was one that could push them further down into misery as unrest in the dressing room and poor management has left them to reside at the bottom of the table. Fortunately for the Monagesque side, fate smiles upon them, as they were put one goal up in the 20th minute by Serge Gakpe, and even after being reduced to ten men a few minutes later, managed to pop in three more goals late in the second half, and kept a clean sheet just to ice the cake. The win lifts Monaco out of the 20th spot for the first time in a few weeks.

Probably the match with the most implications on the table was Marseille’s visit to Lille. Marseille’s cocky attitude got them nowhere over the past few weeks, and one hopes that they had a good hard look at themselves this week if they had any chance of a result against Lille, who looked amazing last week as they popped in 3 at Valenciennes. Lille got things started in first half stoppage time with a goal from Mathieu Bodmer. Marseille tried valiantly to get one back and save them from slumping into irrelevance, but it was aqll for naught, as Lille won 1-0.