Championnat

A weekly North American review of French Football. Ligue 1, Champions League, and UEFA Cup action.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Weeks Of March 19 - April 2

SCORES

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Ligue 1

March 31

Lorient 2-1 Marseille

April 1

Nantes 0-1 Sedan
Le Mans 2-2 Auxerre
Lille 0-2 Valenciennes
Nice 1-1 Monaco
Toulouse 1-0 St. Etienne
Troyes 0-1 Sochaux
Lens 1-2 PSG

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After the European break the French league got back into the swing of things by having a restrained matchweek, giving a couple teams a break. Poor Lorient had only managed three nil-nil draws in the last few weeks, and now they had the chance to bore the fans at the Stade du Moustoir again by trying to hold Marseille to a draw. Marseille had moved into 8th when they blew Nice out of the water last matchday 3-0, and would certainly fancy a chance to beat the 13th place side. It looked as though it was going to be par for the course as the first half unfolded very slowly. What chances there were ended up going Marseille's way until after half-time when Lorient's Rafik Saifi and Ulrich Le Pen got themselves on the scoresheet for the first time in over a month. 2-0 looked like the final scoreline until a rash challenge in the box on Toifilou Maoulida got Marseille a penalty, which Djibril Cisse took and converted. It was too little too late unfortunately for Marseille, and they dent their European hopes again, moving to 8th.

A relegation dogfight ensued when Sedan made the trip up to Nantes to hopefully continue their scrappy form of stealing results from clubs that didn't expect it. Nantes would not take them lightly now, as every result meant that they could get out of relegation form. Nantes sat in 18th on the day, and Sedan stayed in 20th with the possibility of leapfrogging PSG, Nantes AND Troyes into 17th with a win depending on those teams results. The numbers favoured Nantes, but a terrible blunder by goalkeeper Barthez, bumbling a cross, ended up being the difference here. The mistake in the 61st minute turned David Ducourtioux' cross into a strike, and that was all Sedan needed to move off the bottom of the table for the first time in anyone's memory. Nantes are in trouble now again, sitting in 19th on the day.

Auxerre took the 300km trip to Le Mans to meet up with a team who dominated Lille 2-0 to add to that team's woes and move into 9th place to boot. Auxerre were having a rich vein of form as well, doing well to lift themselves into 10th after being on the brink of relegation territory earlier in the season. Both teams looked likely to finish mid-table, but mere points kept them from the top spots. Le Mans looked like they were on their way to the victory when they came out flying after the break, Ismael Bangoura and Tulio de Melo pounded goals in in the 46th and 52nd minute. Auxerre took full advantage of Le Mans' complacency however, and Kanga Akale showed his worth again by putting a glimmer of hope in the visitors' eyes. The spring in their step preceded defender Younes Kaboul' second goal of the year to draw things level and allow Auxerre to share the points. The teams now sit in 9th and 10th, respectively, but neither one makes a case for moving into Europe with the result.

Lille were at home to a Valenciennes side that were just asking for a hiding after playing boring football for several weeks straight. Their derby rivals Lille were ready to pounce after a loss to Auxerre, and Valenciennes had only managed a nil-nil draw with Lorient, who have been poor as well. Boring football was exactly what happened at the Lille Metropole, until the 78th minute when, surprise, surprise, Valenciennes' Geoffrey Doumeng broke the deadlock and made it 1-0. Eric Hassli sealed Lille's fate when he got his first goal in 13 games played as time expired. The result puts Valenciennes on slightly surer footing, and Lille miss out on much-needed points if they want to qualify for the Champions League again.

The only non-French side in the French league made their way across the Riviera sands to Nice, where the home side had been assaulted by their other derby rivals 3-0 in their last match. Monaco were sitting in 12th despite their win against Nantes. Nice striker Lillian Laslandes scored his third for the club this season in just the 11th minute to put the hosts 1 up. After a tense 40 minutes Nice were reduced to ten men when Cyril Rool was sent off in the 56th. That was all Monaco needed to get a little space for Jaroslav Plasil to draw things level in the dying minutes and get their share of the points. Both sides would have wanted all three points, but Nice needed it much more to stave off relegation.

A potentially decisive match unfolded at the Stadium Municipal in Toulouse when St. Etienne came around. The teams had only one point between them and a win potentially could move them into European contention. Toulouse were disappointed when they lost 4-2 to Sochaux in a rather entertaining match, and St. Etienne beat Troyes 3-1. 72 minutes of trying unfolded, but there was nothing doing until Toulouse striker Johan Elmander made his mark on the scoreboard. It was all the hosts had on the day, but it was all they needed as well. Toulouse win 1-0 and move back into European competition, albeit possibly temporarily.

In was a must win for Troyes to be sure when they hosted Sochaux in a match that had big implicatios for both sides. Tryoes wanted to stay away from Relegation and Sochaux wanted to keep pace with the other teams hunting European places. Despite being dominated statistically, Sochaux were able to sneak in a goal just before halftime when Romain Pitau got his first of the season. Sochaux keeper Teddy Richert had to look sharp to keep the scoreline 1-0, but he did. Tensions ran particularly high at the end of the match as Phillipe Brunel and Demetrius Ferreira were both red-carded for fighting in injury time. The result is dire for Troyes, as they now drop into relegation territory and allow Sedan to get out. Sochaux move into the European places thanks to Lille's loss to Valenciennes.

Lens were in a seriously good position, 2nd in the league despite their loss to Auxerre two weeks ago, and they would relish the chance to add another nail to PSG's coffin in front of the home fans. PSG had a couple of results since Paul Le Guen's arrival from Glasgow, but had slumped yet again and were looking ready for the drop. Their loss to Rennes had dropped them to 19th, their worst position yet, and their two relegation rivals were doing battle on the day as well. PSG scored all the goals in this match, even though the tide was skewed against them. Amara Diane scored just 2 minutes in to give PSG the lead. PSG helped out Lens' cause by deflecting a free kick into their own net in the 52nd minute, but were able to get back on top 20 minutes later when when Sylvain Armand converted for the winner. PSG now climb out of the relegation zone, but barely, and sit one point above the drop. Lens are still in second, but with their losing streak, for how long?


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