Week of November 27-December 4

SCORES

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UEFA Cup

November 29
Partizan Belgrade 1-4 Auxerre
Lens 1-2 Parma

November 30

Nancy 3-0 Feyenoord
Mlada Boleslav 0-0 PSG

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Ligue 1

December 2

Le Mans 0-1 Lyon
Auxerre 0-0 Nice
Lens 3-0 Bordeaux
Monaco 3-0 Valenciennes
Rennes 2-0 Nantes
Sedan 1-2 Troyes
St. Etienne 2-0 Lorient

December 3

PSG P-P Toulouse
Sochaux 1-0 Marseille
Nancy 1-3 Lille

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On Wednesday Auxerre took a trip across the continent to Belgrade to meet up with Partizan in UEFA Cup action. Neither team has been particularly good in the competition, occupying the bottom two place in Group A. In order to qualify for the next round both teams needed a clear result, and a loss from Livorno would certainly help things along. Partizan got off to a good start in the fifth minute, making it one-nil. Auxerre were not to be put off their game, however, and proved to be unstoppable, with Cheyrou, Niculae, and Akale all scoring before the first half ended. Luigi Pieroni embarrassed the hosts once more just as time was expiring. With Livorno unable to make up points, Auxerre moves into the top three teams of Group A.

Lens hosted Parma at the Felix-Bollaert sitting in second in Group D. A win would secure them a place in the next round, while Parma has already booked their spot. Lens have not yet lost in the group stage, and their domestic form has been very good. Parma are in a bad state sitting in 16th in the Serie A. Lens scored first on a goal from Daniel Cousin, who has been in good form of late. Unfortunately for the hosts, the Italian side absolutely dominated the rest of the match, with Daniele Paponi finally scoring the winner in the 90th minute. The win puts Parma in charge of Group D, with Lens still in second sitting on on 4 points.

Nancy hosted Feyenoord Rotterdam on Thursday, with Nancy looking to book their place in the next round with a win. Rotterdam have only managed to draw in the UEFA Cup, but have been doing well domestically, sitting in 5th in the Eredivisie. Nancy began brightly and scored twice in the first half, while things went from bad to worse for Feyenoord, who were reduced to ten men in the 60th minute. Feyenoord fans who had been acting up all game began to explode tear gas bombs with 12 minutes remaining in the match. The match was delayed for almost a half an hour, and when the players returned the stadium was much emptier than when they left. The rest didn’t do much good for the Dutch side, as Nancy claimed one last goal off a penalty kick in the 66th minute. Nancy secured their next-round place, with Feyenoord a long shot to advance, needing a win and some luck to get through to the next round.

PSG travelled to the Czech Republic to meet up with Mlada Boleslav in a battle of the last place teams in Group G. Boleslav qualified for the UEFA Cup through the Champions League, and have only managed a Draw and a Loss. PSG are in the same boat, and both teams need a win to get into the top three in the group. The only interesting thing that happened in this match was the sending-off of PSG’s Amara Diane in the 45th minute. The nil-nil draw means that PSG have to beat group leaders Panathinaikos in the next matchweek to qualify for the next round. Boleslav are up against the same situation, they need to beat Hapoel Tel Aviv.

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The early match on Saturday saw Autumn Champions Lyon travel to Le Mans to continue their stroll to the championship. Le Mans have drawn their last three and have had trouble scoring goals of late. Lyon have won every match in France since November 4th. Le Mans started with a flurry, pressing energetically, but the Lyon defence were able to shut them down effectively, and make chances happen on the counterattack. Action was end-to-end all match, but the only goal came from the foot of Sylvain Wiltord, who made it happen in the 57th minute. Lyon continue to dominate the league thoroughly while Le Mans struggle mid-table.

Auxerre had the pleasure of hosting Nice sitting in 14th place in the table, but Nice were doing much worse in 17th. Auxerre had a huge result in Belgrade in Midweek, popping in 4 goals, and they were looking to continue playing offensively and boost their league goal differential. Nice needed a win to keep out of relegation territory. Unfortunately for Nice it was not to be, as the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Troyes victory over Sedan takes them up over into the light sitting in 17th, and Nice drops to 18th. Auxerre keep their spot in 14th.

Lens needed a boost Saturday after losing to Parma Midweek in UEFA Cup Action. Bordeaux were on a high after two domestic wins and knew that with a clear result they could leap themselves up into second place. Lens could do the same with a win. This was the afternoon that the hosts wanted, as they turned in a dominating performance, with defender Vitorino Hilton scoring at the 40 minute mark. Lens continued to flow as their leading scorer Daniel cousin popped one in, followed by striker Issam Jomaa finishing it all off in the 88th minute. The decisive win was much needed for Lens and they now sit in second with a +10 Goal Differential, the second best after Lyon. Disappointed Bordeaux drop all the way to 8th, not picking up any points.

Monaco have been able to get a couple of welcome draws over the past two matchweeks, and Valenciennes got their first win in a while last week. Monaco are still rebuilding after their disastrous start, but have had the fortitude to lift themselves up into 16th. 4 points separate the sides, but a win would be a huge result for Monaco. The sun shone brightly on Monaco today, and Valenciennes would love to have this match back. As Monco has done in weeks past, they spread the goals around the team, with Yaya Toure, Serge Gakpe, and Jan Koller all providing on the day. This run of good form could not come at a better time for Monaco, as the fans begin to rally around the team once more, and the momentum seems to be headed their way. Valenciennes stay in 15th, but matches against eager teams such as Sochaux and St. Etienne in the coming weeks may make things tough for them.

Orient Road was the venue as Rennes hosted Nantes in a match that they would have to be confident going into even though last week’s loss to Toulouse was a bit of a setback. Nantes need to better themselves to get out of the dreaded 18th spot. Typically scrappy Rennes made things difficult for the visitors, thwarting their midfield efforts, and finally getting a goal 39 minutes in from Mario Melchiot. Bruno Cheyrou got his first goal late in the match to make the scoreline 2-0. That was how things ended as well, as Rennes squeak into the top half of the table with the win, and Nantes continue to head toward their demise sitting in 19th.

Sedan drew Troyes this week in a battle of the bottom two clubs. Victories have been scarce for both sides, with Sedan managing a draw last week against Nice, and Troyes doing the same against Marseille. Sedan have only won one match in 15, and looked headed down if they couldn’t produce results quickly, while Troyes have managed just one more win than that. Troyes started off with a goal from Georges Ba just before halftime. Things went from bad to worse for Sedan as midfielder Morgan Amalfitano was red-carded 68 minutes in. Troyes used the opportunity to quickly score 2 minutes later. Sedan brought one back as time was expiring to give them a little boost, but it was not enough as they sustain yet another loss and can’t seem to lift themselves out of the cellar. Troyes aren’t much better off, but a win is what they needed.

St. Etienne hosted Lorient with the teams sitting in 8th and 11th, but with only 4 points separating them. Both teams were coming off losses the week before, and Lorient especially had something to prove, as they have showed themselves to be a quality fighting side thus far in the season. Unfortunately for the visitors it was not to be their day, although the little guys held the scoreline until the second half of the match, when Marek Heinz broke through for St. Etienne. 16 minutes later Frederic Piquionne got the insurance and his 6th goal of the season. St. Etienne move up to 3rd for now, and will want to keep things up.

Early Sunday the Parc Des Princes was the Venue for PSG and Toulouse to square off in a battle that the hosts would want to get three points out of if they were to stop their run of form. PSG sat in 13th on the day, and have not been able to show up and get the all-important three points on their matchdays. Toulouse on the other hand, were a part of the group of teams vying to move up into the European places. The League decided, however, to postpone the match due to concerns of Hooliganism. The midweek match against Hapoel Tel Aviv was marred by racist hooligans, and the police, the clubs, and the LFP decided that the venue would be unsafe to hold a match in.

Last week Sochaux showed that they had the class to get up into a top table position with a 3-1 victory over Lorient away from home, and this week they had struggling Marseille to deal with. Marseille were only able to manage a draw against Troyes last week, who continue to swim around in the bottom three. The only goal of the day came from Sochaux’ Rabiu Afolabi in the 77th minute, despite many chances for the visiting team. Sochaux keep pace with the front runners and land themselves in 4th, while Marseille sit in 8th.

Nancy had Lille at the Marcel Picot for the late match Sunday in a match with big consequences down the stretch. Nancy were looking to leapfrog up into the European places once more, and stop their run of bad form after their wonderful start to the season. Lille were sitting in second, but only on goal differential, and would be looking to pop in a couple for the win to plead their case for the table position. Nancy opened the scoring in the 52nd minute with a goal from Benjamin Gavanon, but they couldn’t hold it together, with Lille bouncing back and padding their goal differential with three unanswered goals late in the match. All in all a great trip for Lille to Nancy, and the teams find themselves in 3rd and 6th respectively this week.