Week of January 8 - 15

SCORES

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Ligue 1

January 13th

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

January 14th

St. Etienne 0-1 Monaco
Rennes 0-2 Marseille

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It’s been a nice couple of weeks for me, with a break from my football-writing duties, but I’m more than happy to get back into things.

The first match Saturday saw dire PSG host Valenciennes at the Parc Des Princes. PSG has been marred by all manner of terrible instances this season, all of which have been boiling to a head for many years now. Hooliganism is a disease that has spread through the entire fan structure, and the team’s performances have been poor to mediocre at best, and their woes leave them sitting in 16th, two points back of Valenciennes. PSG hoped the acquisition of Argentina midfielder Marcelo Gallardo could boost their performance over the second half of the season. Valenciennes had been languishing mid-table as well, and were looking to get another result on the fly against a team they had every chance against. Quality football was at a premium in the first half, but the beginning of the second saw Valenciennes’ Patrick Paauwe sent off after his second yellow card, and thing looked good for the home side. Shockingly for PSG though, Steve Savidan and Sebastien Roudet both scored after Valenciennes had been reduced to ten. PSG’s only consolation was a penalty scored by Pauleta as time ran out. The loss puts PSG in an awkward position, two points up of relegation territory.

Lille were sitting 4 points back of Lens on Saturday, distracted no doubt by their European campaign and preparations for next month’s Champion’s League matches against Manchester United. Lille dropped points in their last league match to mid-table Auxerre, and would want a better result against the second-place club. Lens recovered from their 4-0 loss to Lyon by beating Nice on the last match day before Christmas. Over the break, unproven youngster Adel Taarabt was loaned to Tottenham Hotspur from Lens, presumably Martin Jol saw something in him that no one else did. Lens nearly got off to a flying start with Eric Carriere missing a gimmie. Goals did not come until late in the match, with the visitors scoring forst on a strike by Bastos, but Lens Midfielder Jussie took it level six minutes from time to get Lens a point. Final score, 1-1.

Auxerre hosted Sochaux at the Stade Abbe-Deschamps in a match that saw the visitors two points back of Lens, contending for the second-place spot that most teams in Ligue 1 have occupied at least once this season. Auxerre were cemented in mid-table in 13th spot, while Sochaux beat Nancy on December 23rd, pushing themselves four points clear of the Lorraine side on the day. A battle for the midfield and evenly matched sides kept this one scoreless until the 86th minute, when Auxerre’s Ireneusz Jelen scored to secure them the three points and hurt Sochaux’ in their bid for Europe next year.

Bordeaux, tied for 7th with Nancy, were drawn against Lorient for their 20th league match of the season. The Girondins were five points up on Lorient on the day, and would need a win to keep pushing for the European places. Lorient have been one of the League’s big surprises this year, moving into a mid-table position and getting some big victories along the way, not bad for a newly-promoted team. It was them who scored first, with midfielder Rafik Saifi opening the scoring in the 37th minute. Bordeaux, however, had the better of the chances, getting twice the shots on goal that Lorient did, and their patience payed off when Maromane Chamakh drew things level to get the home side a well-deserved point.

Troyes, who have been less than stellar in the first half of the season, were looking to start the new year off fresh when they travelled to Le Mans to meet up with the team eight places up on them in the table. Draws with PSG and Rennes before Christmas were promising, but not enough to take them out of the relegation danger area. Le Mans, Lorient, and Toulouse were all tied for 10th on 24 points, showing just how clogged the middle of the table is in France. It was to be Le Mans’ day however, with Daisuke Matsui scoring right at the beginning and right at the end of the match. Troyes continued to struggle and Le Mans move all the way up to 9th on the day.

Nantes were just barely out of the relegation zone when they were afforded a golden opportunity to leapfrog PSG and get a little further from danger when they hosted Nice at La Beaujoire-Louis-Fonteneau Saturday afternoon. Nice were struggling in 19th, not having won since their derby with Marseille on October 29th, since which they had become masters of the draw, drawing five and losing two. Fabien Barthez got his first start for Nantes, but was on form, helping the home side keep a clean sheet. Nantes had the bulk of the chances, but it looked as though this one would end nil-nil when Luigi Pieroni scored to give them the winner on literally the last kick of the match. Nice now sit in 19th, only 2 points up on last-place Sedan.

It was a mismatch to be sure when Nancy travelled to Sedan 16 points ahead of the home side, and not looking to drop any points against the League’s bottom feeders. Sedan, on the other hand, were looking for the same spark that caused them to spring the surprise 2-0 result on Marseille in mid-December at the Stade Louis-Dugauguez. It looked as though Sedan would pull an upset though, as Nicholas Marin converted a penalty 21 minutes in, followed quickly by former Middlesbrough striker Joseph-Desire Job scoring to put Sedan 2-0 up. Nancy applied the pressure effectively in the second half and claimed the ball and most of the chances. Chretien and Puygrenier leveled things up but Nancy were unable to get more than that, and the match ended 2-2. A good result for Sedan, not so much for Nancy.

Toulouse, having started the season well, had dropped all the way down to be involved in the three-way tie for 10th. That said, with half a season left to play, the tight French league is just the place to move up quickly by stringing a few results together. Lyon is not the club one wants to meet in this position, however, and if history was any indication, Lyon would come away from Toulouse with all three points, having lost only one match in the league all season, and drawing just two. History, however, refused to be repeated as Toulouse bravely held on for 61 minutes, surviving a salvo of shots from Lyon before taking the lead when Achille Emana scored to give the home side the lead. Twenty Minutes later, Toulouse’s Johan Elmander got the shock second goal to put things out of reach. Toulouse move up to 10th and the loss hardly sets Lyon back, as they sit pretty 14 points up on nearest rivals Lens.

Sunday morning brought steadily recovering Monaco to St. Etienne with the Principality side high off of their draw with Lyon just before the Christmas break, and their unforeseen rise in the table, where they now sit above PSG after being written off at the beginning of the season. St. Etienne are surprising everyone by sitting in 4th, two points back of Sochaux. This match would be one the home side would fancy their chances in, and have the opportunity to push into 3rd. Despite having more shots on goal and the advantage in posession, St. Etienne were thwarted in their effort by a 66th minute headed goal from Monaco’s Jan Koller. Monaco’s resurgence under Laurent Banide continues to astound, and they sit in a much more positive 15th after starting the season at the bottom.

Rennes v. Marseille was the last match of Sunday, and with Marseille beginning to recover from their free-fall in the standings not two months ago, they looked the more dangerous side, especially with Djibril Cisse beginning to find his legs again after a long time off. Rennes would want more than the two draws that they had managed before the break, and inch themselves up the table for the second half of the season. The first half saw both teams playing open football with Rennes getting two good chances on goal until Stephane M'Bia was sent off and the home side was reduced to ten. Marseille took full advantage after the half, with Djibril Cisse starting the scoring at 58 minutes, and even though Rennes had quality chances to equalize, former Rennes striker Toifilou Maoulida rubbed salt into the home side’s wounds by making it 2-0 just before time. Rennes slip to 12th, and Marseille find themselves back up in third place.