Week of December 4 - 11

SCORES

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UEFA Champions League

December 5

PSV Eindhoven 1-3 Bordeaux

December 6

Lyon 1-1 Steaua Bucharest
AC Milan 0-2 Lille

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Ligue 1

December 9

Toulouse 0-1 Lens
Bordeaux 1-2 Rennes
Lorient 2-0 Sedan
Marseille 2-1 Monaco
Nantes 0-0 Le Mans
Nice 0-0 Nancy
Troyes 3-3 Auxerre
Valenciennes 0-0 Sochaux

December 10

Lille 2-2 St. Etienne
Lyon 3-1 PSG

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In midweek Champions League action, Bordeaux travelled to the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven knowing that pride was the only thing on the line, as they had already been relegated to UEFA Cup action in the past matchweek. Neither team needed a result, but it was Bordeaux who struck first 7 minutes in on a Julien Faubert goal brilliantly fed to him by Darcheville. Not 20 minutes later Bordeaux struck again to make the scoreline 2-0. Jean-Claude Darcheville got one more before the half to send the visitors into the dressing room on a big high. The Dutch side were able to pull one back on a goal from Alex in the 87th minute, but the three goals were more than enough to give the Girondins the win.

Lyon hosted Steaua Bucharest in a match they didn’t need to win, but certainly didn’t want to lose to keep their Champions League winning streak intact. The Romanians had put up a valiant effort against the big clubs in the group, but were more than dominated by the high scoring efforts of Lyon and Madrid, though with their efforts against Dynamo Kiev they were able to get enough points to secure themselves a UEFA Cup spot. Lyon conceded their first goal at home only 2 minutes into the match, as Steaua’s Nicolae Dica scored for the visitors. Determined to keep their unbeaten streak alive, Lyon countered 10 minutes later, as Alou Diarra struck for the home side to take things level. The two sides played to a dull draw as their places had already been assured, and Lyon moves into the round of 16, continuing their unbeaten record.

Lille faced a dramatic match at the San Siro that had must-win all over it for both teams. Lille needed the win to net them any sort of chance of advancing. AC Milan needed the win, even though they have already qualified for the next round. AC Milan had been in dreadful form in all competitions prior to this match, and sold tickets for this one at 1 Euro a pop. Lille certainly came to Milan with a big hope of getting a big result. Fortunately for Lille, this was their day. AC Milan could muster little in the way of offence, and a subdued home crowd of 30,000 was on hand to watch their undoing. Lille’s Peter Odemwingie scored 7 minutes in to show the Italians they meant business, and although Milan came up with a few good chances in the second half, Lille’s Abdul Kader Keita came through on the counterattack to score their second in the 67th minute. Lille’s players held their breath at the end of the match however, to find out the result of the AEK Athens-Anderlecht match. That match ended 2-2, which ruined AEK’s chances of advancing, and Lille were able to sneak through to the round of 16. The French side made history by being the first French club to beat AC Milan at home.

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Early Saturday, Lens travelled to Toulouse to try and bolster their already healthy goal differential against the 9th place club. Lens knew they couldn’t afford to slip up, as there were three other clubs in line to take their second place spot. Toulouse came off a 1-0 win against Rennes two weeks ago, but saw their match the week before postponed due to safety concerns in Paris. Lens came out flying, and it was all Toulouse could do to keep the visitors from scoring, with multitudes of chances coming Lens’ way. Finally, in injury time, striker Issam Jomaa made up for hitting the woodwork twice during the match to net his second goal of the season. It was not to be Toulouse’s day, and Lens close the gap on Lyon to 11 points ahead of Lyon’s Sunday match.

Bordeaux hosted Rennes in a match that saw Bordeaux coming off a big 3-0 loss to Lens in the league the week before, and with their midweek draw in Holland, they were a little tired on the pitch. Rennes had had a week to rest and had also popped in two goals against Nantes last week to get them the three points. Sylvain Marveaux opened the scoring for Rennes only 11 minutes in, converting a Jimmy Briand cross to net his third of the season. Rennes had to wait until the second half to extend their lead, and did so with the help of striker John Utaka. Prolific Bordeaux striker Jean-Claude Darcheville got one back for the home side in the 69th minute to give them a little hope. Unfortunately it was not enough, and the match ended 1-2.

Lorient have been flagging of late, and wanted to change that up as bottom-feeding Sedan came to the Brittany coast for a visit. Both teams were coming off losses last weekend, but Lorient had the advantage in all respects. The home side dominated the first half, scoring two in three minutes, while Sedan were struggling to find their feet. It turns out that that is all that Lorient needed to secure the three points, and with this result Sedan clearly seem to have booked their place on the flight down to Ligue 2.

It was a tale of two fortunes as Marseille hosted Monaco at the Stade Vélodrome Saturday. Monaco had a wonderful result last week as they scored three goals and kept a clean sheet against Valenciennes. Marseille lost to Sochaux, and continue to tumble down the rankings. Marseille’s Mikael Pagis started off the scoring in the 38th minute, but when the teams got back on the pitch after halftime, it was Monaco who came out and drew things up. Marseille, desperate for points, pressed hard and got their result after Mamadou Diang scored to make it 2-1 for the beleaguered home side. Diang was ably assisted by the returning Djibril Cisse, who had been injured since before the World Cup with a broken leg. 2-1 is how the match ended, finally giving the home side something to get excited about.

Nantes unequivocally needed to get three points in their draw against Le Mans. Nantes sat in 19th on the day, and had come off a loss to Rennes a week ago. In fact, Nantes had not tasted victory since October 28th when Monaco came to visit them. Le Mans were floudering mid-table, but even though they lost to Lyon last week, they were able to keep the French champions to one goal on the day. Both teams might have wanted a better result than the nil-nil draw they played to though, giving the home fans only a point to get excited about, but in the case of this sleeper, there was little to cheer for.

Nice were only able to manage a draw against Auxerre last week, and their overall form has been quite poor as they sit in 17th place. Nancy sat in 6th place coming into this match, 4 points behind 2nd place and 18 behind league leaders Lyon. Nancy have had a few big losses handed to them of late, and they wanted to show that they could at least make it up into the European places again. Unfortunately for both sides the midfield was where this one played out, and the teams played to a scoreless draw, keeping Nice in the unenviable position of near-relegation, and Nancy continue to falter after their great start to the season.

Troyes continue to slip up but were looking to change that against Auxerre at home. A win could conceivably take Troyes out of the basement, depending on Nice’s result against Nancy. Auxerre sit in 13th and are doing better recently in their UEFA Cup bid than domestically. The goal-fest began in the 19th minute when Troyes’ Yann Lachauer popped in his second of the year, followed by David Gigliotti to make it 2-0 for the hosts at halftime. Auxerre came back with one after the break when Ireneusz Jelen scored to make it 2-1. Gigliotti got his brace a few minutes later to take the scoreline to 3-1. Troyes defence began to leak alarmingly though, and Jelen scored again. As the match was about to die, Auxerre’s Kanga Akale got the goal to tie it up, completing a remarkable comeback. This one ended 3-3, and the teams keep their table places.

Valenciennes hosted Sochaux in another tale of two fortunes. Sochaux are tied for 2nd in the table while Valenciennes are only 3 points up of the relegation zone. Valenciennes needed to win to keep pace and stay safe mid-table, and the home side would like the opportunity to pad their goal differential. This one played out to a boring 0-0 draw, but the points mean that both teams move up for the time being. Sochaux to third and Valenciennes to 14th.

Sunday’s early match saw Lille meet up with St. Etienne in the match with perhaps the biggest table implications of any match played this week. Lille’s legs were perhaps a bit tired after their big midweek match against AC Milan, but their domestic form has continued to be good even as they’ve been playing in Europe. St. Etienne’s win over Lorient last week threw them into the fray at the top of the table, as they sit 2 points back of 2nd. Aruajo Ilan opened the scoring a mere 8 minutes into the match for St. Etienne, but Lille responded quickly with Bodmer converting a Kieta cross in the box. The draw continued until after halftime, when the home side struck again, with Kieta providing his own contribution to the scoresheet. The visitors were not to leave without taking points back, however, with Ilan getting his brace with a goal to finish it off at 66 minutes. The draw allows Lens to get a two point lead over third place Lille, while St. Etienne moves up a spot to 5th.

Lyon versus PSG is usually a battle of the two biggest clubs in France, but PSG have been less than inspiring of late, reaching a new low last week when their match against Toulouse was postponed due to safety concerns at the the Parc Des Princes. That said, PSG were much more rested than Lyon, who had a midweek Champions League matchup against Bucharest. It looked as if the first half would go scoreless, but as the whistle was about to blow Sylvain Wiltord scored for the home side. 60 minutes in Pauleta scored off a free kick to level things off. Anxious to put this one to bed, Lyon scored two unanswered goals just before 90 minutes. 29 points now seperate the teams, and PSG continue to languish in 15th.