Week of March 12-19

SCORES

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Ligue 1

March 17

Sochaux 4-2 Toulouse
Nancy 0-3 Lyon
Lille 0-2 Le Mans
Marseille 3-0 Nice
Monaco 2-1 Nantes
Sedan 1-1 Bordeaux
St. Etienne 3-1 Troyes
Valenciennes 0-0 Lorient

March 18

Auxerre 1-0 Lens
Rennes 1-0 PSG

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Sochaux had the pleasure of hosting Toulouse in the earlier match on Saturday at the Geoffrey-Guichard. Both teams were in great table positions, with Toulouse in 4th and Sochaux just three points behind in 6th. Last week had seen Sochaux unable to score away from home at Bordeaux, and Toulouse would have liked something more than the one point they earned against Monaco. Sebastien Grax scored for Sochaux 22 minutes in, his 2nd of the season. That goal unleashed a torrent of Sochaux goals that saw Michaël Isabey, Jerome Leroy, and Grax's second of the match in the next 40 minutes. Socaux scored 4 times in a total of 7 shots on the day. Toulouse, stunned, were good to score two in the last two minutes of the match. Fode Mansare and Achille Emana scored to make the final score 4-2. Sochaux now sit in 5th, tied on points for the European places. Toulouse were more unfortunate, as their result drops them down to 6th.

The term "The Doldrums" may well apply to where AS Nancy Lorraine's season has gone since their high point in second place back on October. They now sat in 13th, and lost to a dismal Nantes side last weekend. Lyon were another team in trouble, they were crawling to the finish line and would be thankful for the 13 point buffer they had over Lens in 1st place. Lyon's draw with Marseille was a result they would like to forget here. As it happened, Nancy were unable to make anything happen on this day either. Lyon played a bit sluggishly for most of the first half until Milan Baros broke through in the 36th minute. Despite having the lead, Lyon waited until the 76th minute, when Kim Kallstrom scored, followed closely by a well taken Fred strike. The 3-0 win leaves Lyon 16 points clear, but Nancy now drop a place into 14th.

Last week Lille played to a boring nil-nil draw at Lorient, something the Lorient fans were used to, but not so much the Lille fans. The result left them still in 3rd, but now 6 points back of Lens. Le Mans would see this as an opportunity to grab some points, especially after they held off St. Etienne in a tight 2-1 victory. Le Mans were now in 9th, and were making a little push for the end of the season. Les Dogues put forward a big first half push, and they tried for goal 17 times on the match, but could not convert. Le Mans were a little more accurate, but not until the dying minutes, when Ismael Bangoura and Grafite broke down the Lille defence to get Le Mans the three points, denting Lille's European hopes a little. Lille drop into the 4th place UEFA Cup spot, and Le Mans keep on rolling.

Marseille hadn't been able to beat fierce rivals Lyon last weekend, and their lack of confidence was beginning to show. 8th in the table was not where they wanted to be, and they would hope that the new Canadian money being thrown their way would help next year's campaign out considerably. Nice were a potential banana peel for Marseille at this point, because their 16th place table position was misleading. This Nice side were in a fierce battle to stay up and were unbeaten in 6. Marseille were up for this match, and Mamadou Niang popped in a goal 6 minutes in, followed 10 minutes later by midfielder Renato Civelli. Niang kept the ball rolling into the net just before halftime to get a well-deserved brace and shutting Nice out in the first half. Nice had nothing against their derby rivals, but stay in 16th place. Marseille end a 7 game winless streak with a big win.

Monaco were beginning to slow after a run that had taken them mid-table after their abysmal start this season. Their trip to Toulouse had resulted in a 1-1 draw, and they slipped into 14th, 6 points above the drop. Nantes' visit was important for them, because even though they beat Nancy 2-1 last weekend, they still sat in 18th only one point above PSG and could get themselves out of relegation territory with a win. Nantes looked to be getting things done early on when Frëdëric Da Rocha got his 3rd of the season, but Monaco's Diego Perez and Gael Givet had something to say about that before the end of the half. The teams were very evenly matched on the day, but Nantes could not get anything back in the second half, and Monaco took the points, moving them up into an impressive 10th place. Nantes still sat in 18th, but a win from PSG would drive them deeper.

Bordeaux' trip down to the Stade Louis-Dugauguez would be to meet up with a team that had been able to make things happen lately, despite their terrible season, Sedan. Bordeaux would want to do better than Lens against this team and lift themselves up into Europe again. Sedan could conceivably leapfrog PSG and get off the bottom of the table with three points, but it was certainly a tall order. Perennial Bordeaux scorer and good old boy Jean-Claude Darcheville netted the first of the match in the 28th minute, but Sedan were crappy and Mansour Boutabout got one back just after the half. A vital point gained against another top club leaves Sedan happy, and Bordeaux move up into 3rd on the day.

St. Etienne had been battling with themselves a bit since their tumultuous match with Lyon a few weeks ago, and last week things got worse when they lost to Le Mans and dropped to 7th. Troyes were fighting for their Ligue 1 lives, and would not want to give up anything in this match, siting just a mere point above the drop after losing to Valenciennes 3-1. The home side shook off their shackles right quick when Pascal Feindouno scored in the 2nd minute, dominating the visitors. Bafetimbi Gomis continued the high in the 17th minute, and even when Troyes' Benjamin Nivet was awarded a penalty to make it 2-1, the home side came back right after the half when Fredy Guarin was credited with his first of the year. The 3-1 win keeps St. Etienne in 7th, and Troyes remain balanced precariously in 17th.

Lorient were playing boring football when they made the trip to Valenciennes to meet a team that had gotten back their scoring touch against Troyes last weekend. Lorient had drawn 0-0 with Lille and now sat in 12th, and Valenciennes knew they could drop back into relegation if any teams below them had any luck. Unfortunately for the teams and most of all the fans, this match was doomed as well, ending nil-nil. Lorient continue being pathetic bums, giving me nothing to write about, and Valenciennes don't help their relegation fight much, still sitting in 15th.

Sunday's first match was in Auxerre, where the home team was on a bit of a high after beating PSG 1-0 last weekend and rising into the top half of the table. Lens were a little more unfortunate, drawing with Sedan when they could have been gaining ground on struggling Lyon. The home side went out looking to find the net, which they did in the 15th minute when Thomas Kahlenberg got it right. Lens were not themselves at all on the match, and did little to liven up a humdrum affair at the Abbe-Deschamps. Only 4 shots on net were registered by the visitors, but the finishing was not there. The 1-0 result leaves Lens in the 2nd place, but only 1 point up on Bordeaux now. Auxerre move up to 10th,

Rennes were on a rather poor run of form when PSG came to visit Orient Road on Sunday, and last week's draw with Nice meant they now slipped into 11th on the day. PSG were stuck in the mire but good now, and a loss here, like their loss to Auxerre last weekend, would spell serious disaster for the capital club, now sitting in 19th. A scrappy, evenly matched game ensued, but it was Rennes who finally broke the deadlock when Jimmy Briand scored in the 75th minute. PSG had nothing to counter with, and with Bernard Mendy's sending off in the 90th minute, they lost again, and now sit just one point above 20th place Sedan. Rennes move back to 11th, 3 points back of a European place.