Week Of February 26 - March 5

SCORES

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Ligue 1

March 3

St. Etienne 1-3 Lyon
Nancy 1-1 Le Mans
Auxerre 1-0 Rennes
Lille 4-0 Troyes
Lorient 0-0 Nice
Monaco 0-0 Bordeaux
Sedan 2-0 PSG
Valenciennes 0-0 Toulouse

March 4

Sochaux 1-2 Nantes
Marseille 0-1 Lens

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The early match on Saturday was certainly one of the better ones on the bill. St. Etienne had been crushed by Rennes two weeks ago, but got back on the horse last weekend beating PSG handily, 2-0. Lyon have been nothing like the team they were last year, and will now have to win Ligue 1 based on their outstanding form in the first half of the season. Their 3-3 draw with Sochaux got them a point, but it was hardly the outstanding performance the team of old could have given. Lyon have not lost this derby since 1995, and his match gave them no cause for concern. First half goals from Kim Kallstrom and Tiago, followed by Fred curling a perfect free kick early in the second. The scoreline sent the crowd at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard into a frenzy at the 52nd minute, when Flares and Tear Gas were thrown from stand to stand, and a 20 minute break had to be taken to settle the crowd down. Lyon sat back after the players got back on the pitch, and although St. Etienne's Bafetimbi Gomis got a consolation goal in the 80th minute, it wasn't enough for the local rivals, and St. Etienne slip to 7th on the day.

Nancy came back to get the draw on their trip to Lens last week, and they now sat in 10th. The free fall they were in seemed to have stopped, but their overall form was shaky at best. Le Mans would be hopeful to get something on their visit, but their home loss to Monaco last week meant that they now sat in 11th, just beneath Nancy and just above Lorient on Goal Differential. This one turned out to be a classically subdued mid-table clash between two sides who clearly weren't willing to play too hard. Nancy Defender Damian Macaluso got the first goal of the match off a set piece in the 37th minute for his second goal of the season. The sides played a little long-ball for a while, and then Le Mans finally got one back in the 72nd minute when Grafite got his 8th this year. That was how things ended, and the result left the teams in the exact table positions they started with

Last week Rennes were shocked by struggling Sedan at the Orient Road, losing 2-0 in a match that they should have won if you believe the match statistics. This week they had to make the trip to Auxerre, who drew with Nantes in a tie that should have seen them get all three points as well, but now they sat in a dire 14th place. This match had nothing to get excited about, and the fans let the players know it at half time, with the boo-birds out in full force. It was substitute and leading scorer Ireneusz Jelen who finally broke through for Auxerre in the 65th minute. A few awkward chances later for both sides and the match was done with the home side taking all three points and lifting them to a safer 12th position. Rennes stay in 9th thanks to a massive table shift at the bottom and the top.

Troyes could now have picked a better time to visit Lille. The home side were in their poorest form of the year, and hadn't gotten a win out of any of their last 6 matches, and last week dropped points to lowly Nice. Troyes had done well over the past few weeks, slowly putting together results and getting themselves out of relegation danger. They now sat in 15th, but they still needed all three points here to keep things safe. Unfortunately for the visitors, Lille took this opportunity to get back on the horse. Les Dogues looked the winning side from the get go, and Troyes were only able to get 4 shots in the entire match, despite having 51% of the possession. Lille's Abdul Kader Keita and Stephane Dumont both achieved a brace with three of the goals coming before half time. Dumont got his second just one minute after the break to nail the coffin shut for good. Troyes now drop to 16th, and Lille move back into the 3rd position after a week's absence.

Nice lifted themselves out of the relegation zone last weekend with a huge win over Lille, and now sat in 16th, but only 2 points above the drop. Lorient had had a lot of success over the season at home, but their loss to Troyes last week dented their confidence a little, and they were now sitting in 12th. Both sides suffered a bit of a setback here though, with this one playing to an uninspired goalless draw, meaning that both thanks to other uninspired bottom-half performances, Nice move up a place to 15th, and Lorient are down to 13th and falling.

Monaco hosted Bordeaux at the Louis II with both teams coming off of wins last weekend. Monaco vs. Le Mans, and Bordeaux vs. Valenciennes. Bordeaux could get back into Europe with all three points here, but Monaco would be content to hold on in 13th, even though they too were only 5 points above the relegation scrap. Neither team wanted the points however, and though there was many chances, a lack of finishing was the order of the day. Another 0-0 draw leaves Bordeaux in 6th, and Monaco drop to 14th.

Sedan were looking doomed for relegation, but were relishing taking points off the top teams by surprising them into thinking they would be a pushover. They did just that to Rennes last week, and would love to pull PSG into the relegation mire here with a win or even a draw. PSG were teetering precariously, sitting in 17th, but only on their superior goal differential over Valenciennes. Only 6 minutes in disaster struck for when Gregory Pujol's header found the back of the net via PSG goalkeeper Mickael Landreau after seven minutes of play. Shocked, PSG picked up the pace, but some superb goalkeeping by Stephane Trevisan kept the scoreline 1-0. Sedan were clearly the better side in the second half, and Mansour Boutabout broke through in the 74th minute to finish PSG off, getting Sedan all three points. The shock result moves Sedan off the bottom for first time in anyone's memory, into 19th, leapfrogging Nantes for the time being. PSG drop into relegation territory for the first time in the season, sitting on 28 points.

Valenciennes had Toulouse at home in a match they had to win to get themselves out of the relegation mire. The home side had lost to Bordeaux last week, and thanks to positive results for Nice and Troyes, saw themselves sitting in 18th. Toulouse thrashed Marseille 3-0 last Saturday and now were in 3rd, their highest spot of the season. Nobody was thrashing anybody on this day though, with the match ending 0-0. Valenciennes were clearly the better side to take the point off one of the most in-form teams in the league. They dominated possession and shots on goal, and things just got worse for Toulouse when Johan Elmander was red-carded in the 85th minute. The result get Valenciennes out of the mire thanks to PSG's loss to Sedan, and Toulouse drop to 4th.

Sunday afternoon Nantes made the trip to Sochaux. Sochaux had been in and out of the European places all season, but thanks to their draw with Lyon last weekend they now sat in 4th on 40 points. Nantes season was all but over, even with their point last week. 19th place on 23 points would be one big mountain to climb, and they would need a little luck to make sure they would be back for top flight football next season. Dimitri Payet started things off by getting the visitors one-up in the 23rd minute, but not ten minutes later Nantes conceded a stupid penalty, which Alvaro Santos promptly converted to put things on level terms. Sochaux's fortunes waned in the second half though, and Claudio Keseru popped one in in the 51st minute to give Nantes the win. Sochaux were extremely unlucky not to win here, and had the bulk of possession and chances, but were unable to finish. Nantes got the three points they needed, and Sochaux slip up, and down the table they tumble.

The match that had the biggest table implications was surely Lens v. Marseille. Lens drew with AS Nancy last week but still sat in second and would thrive on this matchup. Marseille had been pushed over by Toulouse last weekend 3-0, and had showed little of the quality that they knew they were capable of. This match was exactly what this weekend needed, more boredom. Most likely this one would have finished 0-0 as well were it not for the fact that Lens were awarded a penalty in 59th minute. Aruna Dindane finished well, and it was all that Lens needed to get the three points and stay in 2nd. Marseille are now sitting in 8th.