Week of February 12 - 19

SCORES

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UEFA Cup

February 14

Bordeaux 0-0 Osasuna
Shaktar Donetsk 1-1 Nancy
AEK Athens 0-2 PSG

February 15

Lens 3-1 Panathinaikos

Ligue 1

February 16

Lille 1-2 Lyon

February 17

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

February 18

Monaco 0-0 Lens
Marseille 0-0 Nantes

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Valentine's day saw the Return of UEFA Cup action to Europe, and Bordeaux were there courtesy of the drop from the Champions League after finishing 3rd in Group C. Ocasuna had been plodding through the UEFA Cup and had finished second in their Group, just behind Parma. The first Leg at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux saw almost nothing in the way of chances for either team. Bordeaux controlled the ball effectively, but as it has been in most of their European fixtures, they could not finish. Ocasuna were effectively shut down in midfield and the fans were more than happy to get out of the stadium at the end of the match, this night being the perfect prelude to a good night's rest. 0-0 Final.

AS Nancy Lorraine took their show on the road to the Ukraine and the RSK Olympyiskyi in Donetsk. Nancy finished second in their group as well, just behind Blackburn Rovers in Group E. Shaktar's record of 1-3-2 in the Champions League Group phase was less than stellar, but it was enough to get them the third place spot just ahead of Olympiacos and the drop to the UEFA Cup. Most of the match was played in the midfield with little in the way of clear-cut chances, until Marc-Antoine Fortune scored for the visitors in the 81st minute. With what looked like a sure win, Nancy stepped off the gas as Shaktar sped things up and scored 3 minutes later. Tymoschuk for Donetsk got sent off as time expired, but there was no time for Nancy to take advantage of the extra man, and they end in a 1-1 first leg tie.

PSG made the journey to the Spyros Louis Stadium in Athens to meet up with AEK, who had narrowly missed out on the group stage of the Champions League courtesy of a great show by Lille in Milan. PSG had finished second in Group G, just behind Panathinaikos, who were drawn against Lens in the Round of 32. It was the visitors who dominated this match, as PSG were determined to continue winning after putting on a show for the home fans against Monaco last weekend. Sammy Traore scored at the stroke of halftime, and as Athens continued to struggle defensively, Bernard Mendy popped one in at the 88th minute to give PSG the insurance they needed to go home with a win and two away goals.

Lens were on form in all competitions coming into their first-leg home tie against Panathinaikos at the Felix-Bollaert. This one was important to them though, as they had failed to crack the top two in the group stages, finishing in 3rd with only 4 points yet still advancing to the round of 32. Panathinaikos, on the other hand, had finished top of their group but had been beaten in France 4-0 at the hands of PSG. A dire and boring first half gave way to an eventful second. Issam Jomaa's goal in the 49th minute blew this match wide open, and after a lot of back-and-forth, Panathinaikos came up with one courtesy of their striker Dimitrios Salpigidis. Lens were too strong on the day though, and Jomaa came right back to give them the lead five minutes later. A late foul on Yohan Demont gave Lens a late penalty, taken by Aruna Dindane who converted and finished things off at 3-1. The advantage goes to Lens in the second leg in Greece.

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A rare Friday match in Ligue 1 was an important one for both teams concerned. Lyon was visiting Lille, and the result would be most important for the home side if they were to make any case for challenging for the top spot. THey saw themselves 15 points behind Lyon on the day, but could conceivably cut that to 12 with a win here. Lille had bumbled against Toulouse last weekend, but were still on pace, with their neighbors Lens, for European places next year. Lyon had gotten their first win of 2007 against Lorient last weekend, and wanted to get back on form for their big match against Roma next week in Champions League. A lacklustre first half gave way to a much more entertaining second, as Lille's Johan Audel got a rare goal to put the home side 1 up in the 51st minuts. Lille were too much for a Lyon side with nothing in the way of creativity until Fred's free kick in the 82nd minute somehow found its way past Lille keeper Tony Sylva. As things looked like they were about to go to a draw, Lyon defender Sebastien Squillaci got a rare goal himself, and it was too late for Lille to catch up, as Lyon win 2-1 in Lille.

The one early match Saturday featured two teams who had drawn matches last weekend, St. Etienne and Rennes. St. Etienne, who drew with Auxerre, were still in good position to vie for Europe, sitting in 5th. Rennes had dropped to 12th after a disappointing draw with AS Nancy Lorraine at their home ground, and were solidly mid-table. Rennes came out flying and showed the crowd at the Geoffrey-Guichard that they meant business. Striker John Utaka sowed how clinical he could be with a stunning free kick goal in the 15th minute. St. Etienne were no pushovers though, as Bafetimbi Gomis got one past Pouplin 20 minutes later. After halftime, Rennes were on their back heel a bit, but a sprightly counterattack got Utaka his brace in the 58th minute. The Rennes fire could not be put out by this time, as Sylvain Marveaux converted not three minutes later to give the visitors the insurance. Rennes move up to 8th, their highest spot of the season, level on Points with St. Etienne, and both teams will still be confident they could be in the European hunt.

Nancy got a 1-1 result at Rennes last weekend, and over the week at Donetsk in the Ukraine, so they would want three points in their meeting with PSG. PSG were just getting back on the horse after a dire run of form, winning 4-2 against Monaco last week, and 2-0 against AEK Athens away in the UEFA Cup. Nancy could not get anything going on the day as PSG looked unstoppable, even though all of the scoring came late in the second half. It all started with a Pauleta penalty miss in the 70th minute that became a goal after the keeper rebounded the ball to the penalty taker to make the score 1-0. The game was sealed in the dying minutes as Pierre-Alain Frau and Marcelo Gallardo both put one home to give PSG an emphatic 3-0 away win. The win puts PSG a safer 15th, but Nancy drop back down to 12th.

Lorient would have been confident going into Lyon last week, but Fred's 8th minute strike was all that was needed to hold the Breton upstarts at bay. That said, Lorient were not in bad form, and Toulouse had squeaked a win last week against Lille, but only courtesy of an own goal by Lille's Gregory Tafforeau in the dying seconds of the match. Les Violets were the ones who took al lthe points here though, as a quick paced game turned scrappy, and a controversial penalty was given to Toulouse early in the second half, which Paulo Cesar was more than happy to take and convert. It was all that Toulouse needed in a game that Lorient should have won. The home side had the bulk of chances and possession, and they would be very disappointed with the result. Toulouse hunt Europe in 5th, while Lorient drop to 12th, their lowest in quite a while.

Sedan v. Auxerre was not the marquee match of the weekend, let's get that straight before we begin, but any match was important for Sedan, who needed three points from every match they could from now on if they even had a hope of staying in the top flight. Last weekend they just barely lost to Le Mans by a score of 3-2. Auxerre had drawn St. Etienne 1-1, but knew that mid-table was where they belonged and would stay for the rest of the season. Auxerre gt the ball rolling when Romanian striker Daniel Niculae finished 15 minutes in, but the home side weren't down for long, as Romain Satre broke through a few minutes later. Sedan looked formidable in the first half as high-scoring Josep-Desire Job scored 4 minutes later to give them the lead. A nervy 67 minutes followed, and just as Sedan looked like they would get their first home win since December 16th, a patient Auxerre scored as Niculae got his brace. The result means Sedan are still 8 points from safety, and Auxerre end up in 13th on the day.

Sochaux hosted Le Mans Saturday afternoon at Stade Bonal confident they could get a result despite theit 3-1 loss to high-scoring, high-flying Lens last weekend, a result that left them in 6th, but only one point back of the European places. Le Mans had squeaked by Sedan, but with a lot of other teams doing much better than them, they ended the weekend sitting in a disappointing 9th, and would have to have a lot of nerve to win here. A nasty foul on Sochaux's Guirane N'Daw gave the referee no chance but to award a penalty in the 14th minute, which was well taken by Álvaro Santos. A game lacking in tempo and finishing was underlined by an own goal by Le Mans' Hassan Yebda as things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the 79th minute. Things would end just that way too, as Sochaux move into 4th, and Le Mans drop to 10th.

Bordeaux travelled to Troyes to meet up with a team only one point above the relegation battle and wanting to stay up at all costs. Troyes' loss to Nice last week was a big blow, as was the 3-0 scoreline. Bordeaux were only able to snooze out a 0-0 European result on their trip to Spain to meet Osasuna, but had narrowly avoided an upset when Marseille came to town last weekend in Ligue 1 action, beating them 1-0. Bordeaux's lack of the finishing touch was extremely evident in this match, as they had chance after chance but could not convert. All it took for the weaker side was David Gigliotti's 67th minute headed goal off a fine cross from Bangoura. Bordeaux looked the stronger team in the finishing stages of the match, but the Troyes defense held strong to keep them in 17th, just above relegation territory. Bordeaux fall to 9th on the day.

Two teams that had found their goal-scoring feet last week were Valenciennes and Nice, who met Saturday afternoon in Northern France, in Valenciennes. The home side had whooped Nantes 5-2 on their big trip there, and Nice had found three goals in them in their home tie with Troyes. Nice still were in relegation form though, sitting in 18th, while Valenciennes' 15th place left something to be desired as well. These were not the high scoring sides we saw last week, however, and a dire match on a poor pitch unfolded extremely slowly before the spectators eyes. Nice's big scorer Bakari Koné was awarded a penatly in the 31th minute, and everybody might as well have gone home, because that was the final score. Valenciennes and Nice now sit in 16th and 18th, respectively.

Sunday's big match was the early one, with Lens traveling south to Monaco in a match that could see the second place team make up ground on first-place Lyon with three points. Lens beat Sochaux convincingly last week, 3-1, while Monaco's luck ran out and PSG's came back at the Parc des Princes when they lost 4-2. The teams sat at 2nd and 14th, respectively, coming into this match. Good end-to-end action marked the first half, but with no one coming out the clear contender. Lens were nothing near the goal-scoring power they had been in recent weeks. The second half was equally as unresolved, and the teams left the pitch frustrated, tied 0-0.

Marseille needed 3 points against Nantes, they knew it, and they wanted Europe next year. Nantes had been extremely poor this season and looked destined to go down for the next. Marseille had lost to Bordeaux in the last minutes of the match last week, and Nantes, sitting in 19th, had been soundly thumped by Valenciennes 5-2. Marseille dominated the first half of this match, but their 10 shots to Nantes' two were still not enough to beat Fabien Barthez. The home side dominated the second half as well, but Nantes' defense held up wonderfully. Marseille should have won this one on paper, but the 1 point means they can still be easily caught in the European places.

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