Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Le Mans earned a well-deserved point.

Ligue 1 opened this weekend and the clubs were immediately in full swing. We had several candidates for the Goal-Scorer to Get Carded Award, a few RCs handed out, some PKs and an OG. The theme for this week appeared to be statistical dominance not resulting in a win. The result of the week goes to Le Mans, who forced Lyon to come from behind twice in order to salvage 1 point from the encounter. Most of the other results played out as one would expect.

Get all of the details for this weekend’s matches after the jump.

Saturday, August 8th:

Auxerre 0-1 Sochaux – Despite being dominated statistically, Sochaux looked the much stronger side in this match. In the 5th minute Perquis headed the ball off a corner, and Auxerre GK Sorin was barely able to tip it over the crossbar. In the 9th minute Pedretti sent a free-kick from 35 yards screaming into the box, but the defense was able to clear. Just 6 minutes later Maurice-Belay had 2 successive corners, the 2nd of which was headed onto the bar by Faty. Sochaux should have had a goal in the 19th minute when a cross from Sverkos rolled across the goalmouth, but Mikari missed a sitter. The first shot for Auxerre came in the 21st minute, when Contout was easily stopped by Sochaux GK Richert. They began to apply more pressure, as a free-kick from Birsa was headed by Coulibaly in the 30th minute, but Sochaux responded with a half-volley from Nogueira in the 36th minute that found the side netting. The goal finally came in the 40th minute, as Nogueira raced down the right, abusing the defense, and fed Sverkos for an easy finish. The second half was contested at a much slower pace. Auxerre thought to have equalized in the 69th minute when Chafny scored on a counter-attack, but he was correctly ruled offsides. The next great American hope in Europe, Charlie Davies, was a 71st minute substitute. On his first touch he absolutely torched the defense with his speed, but lost the ball to allow Auxerre a counter-attack. Undaunted, Davies forced an excellent save from Sorin in the 82nd minute for the last legitimate chance of the match.

Grenoble 0-2 Marseille – In a match featuring a club tipped to finish 1st and a club predicted (by me, at least) to be relegated, the gulf in class was evident early. Marseille held 64% of the possession and outshot Grenoble 16-6 over the course of the match, but it only took 2 minutes for the clinic to begin, as Niang received a pass from Taiwo and promptly dribbled around 2 defenders and scored easily. He should have had a brace 3 minutes later, sending his shot just wide of the post. Taiwo continued his good play as well, forcing Grenoble GK Viviani into a save from his free-kick. The dominance continued well into the second half, with Grenoble not threatening until the 60th minute when Lubjoja’s centering pass for Akrour was well cut out by Heinze. In the 64th minute Courtois had his shot stopped by Marseille GK Mandanda, and that was the last time they would threaten. Marseille scored again in the 81st minute as Kabore sent in a pass for Brandao. Paillot was only able to clear the ball as far as Cheyrou, who slammed home the finish. Entertaining note of the match: During a clash between supporters of both clubs, 2 Grenoble supporters were bitten by a police dog (sorry, no links in English).

Le Mans 2-2 Lyon – Claude Puel’s side did not begin their season in their preferred manner, twice having to come from behind despite holding 60% of the possession and outshooting Le Mans 20-8. Both clubs looked somewhat disorganized early, and it took 15-20 minutes before any type of flow emerged in the match. In the 21st minute Le Mans opened the scoring when Maiga took a pass from Coutadeur and finished well, shocking the Lyon defense. The response wasn’t long in coming, as new signing Lopez did some excellent work down the side and passed to Makoun, who sent the ball onto Bodmer for the finish in the 28th minute (and collect the inaugural Goal-Scorer to Get Carded Award, as he received a YC in the 66th minute). Although Puel surely had harsh words for his side at the half, it was again Le Mans who opened the scoring for the half when Cris was adjudged to have brought down Maiga in the box. Despite the apoplexy of the entire Lyon squad, Coutadeur stepped up to cooly send home the resulting PK. Looking at the wrong result, Lyon applied pressure for the remainder of the match looking to equalize again. However, it wasn’t until late that their chances paid off. In the 85th minute Govou was stopped by Le Mans GK Roche, and in the 86th minute Gomis sent a shot just wide, but a well-earned free-kick in the 90th was put into the back of the net by Lopez, who was clearly Lyon’s man of the match.

Monaco 1-0 Toulouse – Replicating the theme of the day, Toulouse maintained 60% of the possession, but looked listless while doing so. There was early pressure as a shot from Didot produced a great save from Monaco GK Ruffier, followed by a well-struck header from Gignac that Ruffier dealt with as well. Sissoko then put his shot just wide of the post in what was seemingly the last opportunity for Toulouse. As Monaco came on, Nene had his shot pushed just wide by Toulouse GK Blondel, and further pressure almost resulted in an OG from Cetto. The goal came right before the half, as Park sent in an excellent pass to Nene, who received the ball and turned quickly towards goal for the lightning-quick finish. Park looked to get a goal for himself in the 65th minute, but Blondel was up to the task, tipping the shot onto the post. Just minutes later Blondel reacted well to stop a Nene free-kick. The match took a bit of a turn in the 75th minute when Perez received his 2nd YC of the match for a nasty tackle from behind. This allowed Toulouse to ramp up their pressure, but in their last chance of the match Didot put his shot off the post and Gignac had his follow-up stopped by Ruffier.

Montpellier 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain – This match was very even, but new boys Montpellier did not earn their 1 point until the very end. Within the first 5 minutes, both Camara and Montano had penalty appeals denied for Montpellier. In the 10th minute, PSG almost faced disaster as a shot from Marveaux was almost turned into his own net by Sakho. However, the club from the capital gained the upper hand in the 33rd minute when newly-arrived Jeunechamp received his 2nd YC of the match (which appeared soft to me) for what was judged to be a tackle from behind. This preceded a flurry of shots within the final 5 minutes of the first half, as Giuly, Sessegnon and Erdinq peppered the Monpellier goal in quick succession. However, almost immediately after the restart the latter club got off a good shot from a Montano header, which forced PSG GK Coupet into a nice save. Order was quickly restored as Giuly and Luyindula attacked, and they were rewarded in the 71st minute when Makelele had his shot parried by Montpellier GK Jourdren, only to land at the feet of Giuly for the finish. PSG made the mistake of putting 10 behind the ball, and they paid for their overly defensive mentality in 94th minute when Spahic headed home a goal off a corner kick to salvage 1 point.

Rennes 3-0 Boulogne – Rennes completely dominated this match, making it clear that Boulogne will have an incredibly hard task this season if they wish to stay in the top flight. The scoring was opened in the 7th minute when Bangoura received a pass from Marveaux and put in his bicycle kick off the post. They should have had a 2nd rather quickly, but Gyan had a goal called back for offsides and Bangoura sent another shot just wide of the post. Rennes doubled their tally just before the half when Mangane sent home his header off a corner. Boulogne had 2 good opportunities early in the second half, but Thil sent his shot just over the crossbar and Agouazi shot just wide. Rennes ended the match with a punctuation mark, as Leroy slammed home his free-kick in the 91st minute.

Saint-Etienne 0-2 Nice – Saint-Etienne dominated the match, holding 67% of the possession and having 8 corner kicks to only 1 for Nice, but they came up on the wrong end of the final tally. The former club should have scored first, as Hautcoeur received a well-weighted pass from Payet in the 6th minute, but he sent his shot just wide. In the 10th minute Mirallas found himself stopped by Nice GK Ospina, and in the 25th minute Paisley saw his shot hit the post. Nice finally began to push back, and in the 37th minute Mabiala hit the post. Just 2 minutes later Remy had his shot blocked, but Traore was there to follow up for the simple finish. Early in the second half Riviere and Mirallas found themselves once again shut down by Ospina. Nice finished the scoring in the 88th minute after Remy capitalized on a defensive error.

Valenciennes 1-3 Nancy – Valenciennes struck quickly, when Samassa had his cross/shot misjudged by Nancy GK Bracigliano in the 6th minute. Despite consistent pressure, however, Valenciennes were outmatched for the remainder. Nancy got on the score sheet in the 17th minute when a shot from Ayite was deflected into the goal, and neither club could pull ahead for the rest of the half. In the 60th minute Feret did some nice work down the side before feeding Brison to send home his shot into an open net. Valenciennes should have equalized in the 68th minute when they were awarded a PK, but Danic could not convert the opportunity. Just minutes later Nancy had a PK of their own when Brison committed a handball in the box, and Traore stepped up to slot it home. To make matters worse for Valenciennes, GK Penneteau received a RC in the 93rd minute after he had been dribbled by Dia and he brought down the latter.

Sunday, August 9th:

Lille 1-2 Lorient – Continuing the theme of the day yet again, Lille dominated statistically (57% of the possession; 19 shots to 6) but were unable to take away even 1 point from the encounter. In the 3rd minute a corner from Cabaye almost resulted in a Lorient OG as Marchal was lucky to not turn the ball past Lorient GK Audard. In the 10th minute an Obraniak strike scraped the grass before slamming into the post, and in the 22nd minute Emerson was stopped by Audard. Lorient struck first in the 33rd minute when a Monterrubio free-kick from 40 yards found Gameiro unmarked for a header. Lille started the second half much as the first, with Mavuba sending his shot just over the crossbar in the 49th minute. However, Lorient struck again in the 52nd minute when Monterrubio dispossessed Beria and sent a perfect pass to the penalty spot for Vahirau to finish. Lille continued to press, and Audard did well to get to a free-kick from Cabaye in the 55th minute. The club received a gift in the 66th minute when a pass from Balmont was turned into his own net by Monterubbio for a Lorient OG. In the 68th minute Mavuba thought he had equalized with an attempted lob, but Audard was up to the task. Youngster Hazard came on in the 77th minute for Lille and almost immediately played Mavuba through on goal, but the latter was stopped by defender Baca. Lille had one final chance to salvage 1 point in the 91st minute, but Cabaye’s pass to Obraniak strayed just a little too far.

Bordeaux 4-1 Lens – RC Lens looked completely outclassed as title-holders Bordeaux ran roughshod over them for 90 minutes. In the 12th minute Wendel abused half the Lens defense before sending home a brilliant strike to open the scoring. Over the next 20 minutes Gourcuff, Chamakh and Cavenaghi had numerous attempts but were unable to capitalize. Lens equalized in the 40th minute when an Eduardo free-kick found Demont, who sent on a pass to be headed home by Jemaa. Bordeaux regained the lead in the 54th minute on a free-kick from Cavenaghi which Gourcuff slotted home (after a deflection off defender Demont). Just 4 minutes later Lens thought they had equalized once more on a goal from Boukari, but was correctly flagged as offsides. The final minutes of the match allowed the score to flatter Bordeaux somewhat, as Chamakh scored in the 92nd minute on a pass from Gouffran, and Gourcuff scored in the 93rd minute on a pass from Chamakh (after a nice run from Fernando).

So, after Matchday 1, the top of the table looks like this: (1) Bordeaux, with 3 points on a 1-0-0 record and a +3 goal differential; (2) Rennes, with 3 points on a 1-0-0 record and a +3 goal differential; (3) Nancy, with 3 points on a 1-0-0 record and a +2 goal differential; and (4) Marseille, with 3 points on a 1-0-0 record and a +2 goal differential.