Week of January 15 - 25

SCORES

----------------------------------------------------

Ligue 1

January 17th

PSG 0-0 Toulouse

January 24th

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

January 25th

Nancy 0-2 St. Etienne

----------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, January 17th saw the postponed match between PSG and Toulouse played out at Parc Des Princes with new PSG boss Paul Le Guen at the helm. Le Guen comes to a team desperately seeking a result, having not won a match in Ligue 1 since their October 28th fixture against Rennes. The capital club were without the services of new signing Marcelo Gallardo, as he was not a member of the team when the match was originally to be played. Toulouse had every reason to fancy their chances in this match, having just come off a huge win against Lyon not four days before. On the day, however, neither team had anything of an inspiring performance, least of all PSG. There was nothing doing for the side as they battled a Toulouse midfield that seemed more than happy with a draw after their big effort against Lyon on the weekend previous. The result keeps PSG in a dangerous position, and Toulouse sit in 9th on 28 points.

Marseille hosted Auxerre in the early match on Wednesday, January 24th. The southern side have improved their form of late, having won 3 of their last five, and looking a much better side than the one that free-fell through the standings in October and November. Marseille have also been the subject of takeover rumours of late, with Canadian Jack Kachkar launching a 115 million euro bid for the club, which looks likely to go through. Auxerre have been solidly mid-table all season, and looked unlikely to be challenging for anything, having now crashed out of the UEFA cup as well as being in 11th place in the French table on the day. The Stade Velodrome was empty this particular day, as Marseille took their punishment for fan misbehavior earlier in the season. The home side’s form was unaffected though, as Franck Ribery began the scoring only 8 minutes in. The Burgundy side put things level quickly, as Ireneusz Jelen scored not ten minutes later. Alas for Auxerre, their poor defense allowed Ribery through once more to get him a brace, and defender Taye Taiwo made it 3-1 as time expired. Marseille move into second on goal differential, and Auxerre slip to 13th.

 Lille came into their match with PSG having had a few mediocre results since their big win against AC Milan at the San Siro in Champions League play. They now saw themselves dropped down to 5th in the table, but only 1 point back of the European places. PSG, on the other hand, have been crashing miserably, and their form did not improve in their draw with Toulouse the past week. new manager Paul Le Guen has failed to inspire the listless side so far, and the day saw PSG slip to their first loss under his management. The listless and dull match was a battle of midfield drollery, until Lille were able to push through to a 1-0 win on a goal from midfielder Jean Makoun in the 76th minute. Les Dogues now sit in 4th, and PSG are only above the relegation spots thanks to a +1 goal differential over 18th place Troyes. One more loss will surely put them in relegation danger.

Lorient knew they would have a time of it when Lens came to town, and the visitors knew that every point was of utmost importance with Marseille all of the sudden breathing down their necks to secure second place. The day saw Lens with only three points up on Marseille, while Lorient were in 13th, and continued to make their case for staying the top flight despite two draws in their last two matches. Lorient, being the weaker side, played defense and would have settles for the draw, but Lens’ Nenad Kovacevic was sent off 25 minutes in, changing the balance of play. Subsequently, Lorient seized their chance to score straight away after halftime, and Rafik Saifi put in his 4th of the season to get the home side the win. Lens’ loss moves them down to third beneath Marseille, who are now on a terrific run of form.

Rennes travelled to the south coast for what was surely to be a tough match against a team that has been in decent form of late, Monaco. Monaco have beaten St. Etienne and drawn Lyon at the Gerland in their last two matches, and keep trying to make themselves comfortable above the relegation zone. Rennes dropped points to Marseille at home in their last match, and sat in 12th before their trip to Monaco. Fortunately for the visitors, this was to be their day, but not without a challenge. Jan Koller had two clear chances over the course of the match that should have been converted. Right after the half, Jimmy Briand and Etienne Didot were able to put their shots in the back of the net, giving Rennes a much needed win and moving them up a spot into 11th. Monaco, on the other hand, lose a little form but stay in 15th.

Another south coast match played out in Nice when giant-killers Toulouse came to visit. Toulouse didn’t have the luxury of having a week and a half to rest their squad like almost every other team in the league as a result of their postponed match with PSG. Nice came into this match in horrible form, and would certainly have been considered underdogs, having been sitting in 19th only two points above Sedan. The home side had the ideal chance to start things off right when they were awarded a penalty not 8 minutes in, but Lilian Laslandes failed to convert the opportunity. Nice had the majority of possession, but were unable to make good on it, and Toulouse’s Johan Elmander finished clinically 25 minutes in. Despite a multitude of chances, Toulouse’s defense held strong and they were able to win 1-0. Toulouse move into 8th, and Nice stay in the dangerous 19th spot.

Sedan still found themselves in the unenviable position of 20th in the table coming into their match against Sochaux who were shakily holding their 4th place position on the day. Sedan had surprised Lille three weeks ago but had been unable to string together any results all season, to their ultimate demise. Sochaux knew that without a win here, they were in danger of dropping quickly due to the closeness of every team in the top half of the table. As a surprise, Sedan’s Joseph Job struck first despite the home side having almost all the possession. Sedan almost made it 2-0 before Sochaux got their heads on straight and put forward their own successful attack, which saw Alvaro Dos Santos put things level. The home side were unable to get momentum going however, and things ended in a surprise draw, which sees Sedan stay at the bottom of the table, and Sochaux slip to 5th.

Troyes and Nantes are two teams that knew that they needed results to stay out of relegation danger, and both had had poor seasons to date. Troyes, with a win, could concievably leapfrog PSG into 17th, and Nantes in 16th were still in danger if they continued to drop any points. Nantes big wins against Nice and Toulouse had given them a bit of new life in the past weeks, but Troyes, Masters of the draw, knew they needed more to survive in the top flight. The first half saw both teams losing players to red cards and playing out the rest of the match with a much more open field. The hosts were awarded a penalty in the first half as well, but Benjamin Nivet was unable to convert. They were vindicated, however, as time expired as Gael Sanz beat Fabien Barthez to push them just a little closer to moving out of the relegation zone. Nantes still sit in a dangerous position, and need a result at the weekend if they want to make their case for staying up.

Valenciennes had been able to string together a couple of wins recently, and Le Mans, though 5 places above them in the table, were only three points up on them. Valenciennes heroic win over PSG after going down to ten men was still fresh in their minds, and Le Mans were in mediocre form at best. On this day however, it appeared that these were two teams that were completely even in terms of skill. Shots, Possession, all these were equal, and so was the scoreline, 1-1. Valenciennes made it 1-0 just before halftime, with Sebastien Roudet netting his third of the season to put the home side ahead. Just as time was about to expire however, Tulio De Melo scored his first to make things level for the visitors. The teams now sit at 14th and 10th, respectively.

Meanwhile, at the Stade Gerland, Lyon were eager to forget their little slip-up against Toulouse and focus on beating Bordeaux, who had been less-than-stellar of late after dropping out of Europe. Bordeaux’ win against Le Mans was their only real bright spot in their last five matches, while Lyon still led the table 14 points up on the nearest challengers. Despite completely dominating the statistics, and against all odds, Lyon slipped to a second consecutive defeat in Ligue 1. Pablo Francia scored for the visitors straight off when they were awarded a penalty when Remy Vercoutre challenged Jean-Claude Darcheville rather nastily. Bordeaux continued to surprise when Johan Micoud headed one past replacement keeper Vercoutre 25 minutes in. Lyon pulled out all the stops to put things level, including putting new boy Milan Baros on the pitch, but it was Fred who made the scoreline 2-1 in the 64th minute. However, it was not enough, and Lyon were handed their first home loss of the season.

The one Thursday match saw St. Etienne visiting Nancy at the Marcel Picot. Nancy were in 7th place coming into this match, but still only three points back of the European places and were eager to get back up there. St. Etienne have been surprising of late but needed to string some results together to make their case. This was their day then, as two goals after halftime took them up into 5th in the standings. Nancy dominated huge spells of the game, and should have come away with a point, but were unlucky, and they stay in 9th.