Ligue 1 Mid-Week Review

Result of the week for L'OM. Droit au but indeed!

Mid-week action in Ligue 1 saw significantly less…action (note to self: buy thesaurus). Goal-scoring was down, as was the distribution of YCs, but we did manage to see the return of a GSTGC award winner. Because of crazy scheduling issues related to swine flu postponements and Champions League action, there were only 8 matches played (with 1 on Tuesday and 7 on Wednesday) and 4 clubs remain on 16 matches played while everyone else is on 17. The result of the week goes to Olympique de Marseille, who beat surprising Lorient 2-1 to move into 2nd place in the table with a match in hand.

Tuesday, December 15th:

Valenciennes 0-0 Auxerre – Valenciennes outshot (14-6) and outpossessed (62%-38%) Auxerre but was unable to take advantage to move ahead of their rivals in the table. Action didn’t get started until the 30th minute when Audel sent his header wide. Valenciennes continued to have the better chances on either side of the half, as ben Khalfallah shot wide in the 38th minute and Audel put his shot over the crossbar in the 46th minute. The first shot on target came soon after, with Pujol having his header stopped by Auxerre GK Sorin. The next minutes saw Cohade, ben Khalfallah and Audel all off target. Auxerre thought they had a good opportunity in the 84th minute when Contout was taken down in the area by Bisevac, but calls for a PK were ignored. The final shot was a scissor-kick from ben Khalfallah that was saved by Sorin, and the clubs were forced to share the points.

Wednesday, December 16th:

Le Mans 1-0 Grenoble – A horrendous season for Grenoble continues, as they were unable to score despite 18 shots and 6 corner kicks. The lone goal of the match came early, as Helstad received a pass from Dossevi and beat the defense to slot past Grenoble GK Le Crom in the 8th minute.  The latter got his revenge in the 21st, making the save on Helstad. On the other end of the pitch an excellent volley from Dieuze was stopped by Le Mans GK Ovono in the 44th minute. After the break Le Tallec hit the crossbar, while Paillot had his header stopped by Ovono. Helstad then began to pressure again, and his volley elicited a great save from Le Crom in the 73rd minute, who also stopped Goulon in the 81st minute to minimize the damage.

Lorient 1-2 Marseille – This match was fairly even, but L’OM dug deep to escape with a late match-winner and move to 2nd in the table. Lorient should have had a goal in the 12th minute, but Sosa saw his header cleared off the line by defender Bonnart, and the former also saw his volley stopped by Marseille GK Mandanda in the 16th minute. Marseille got their first chance in the 34th minute when Kone was stopped by Lorient GK Audard. The better of the action came in the second half, and in the 51st minute Audard produced a great save to keep out Gonzalez. Soon after Amalfitano was fouled in the box by Henize and Vahirua stepped up to slot home the resulting PK and give Lorient the 1-0 lead. In the 68th minute debutant Ayew (son of L’OM legend Abedi Pele) sent home a beautiful volley on a cross from Kone for the equalizer. Lorient were left despondent in the 92nd minute when Diawara finished off a free-kick from Gonzalez to steal the 3 points at the death.

Lyon 2-0 Boulogne – Les Gones got their 1st win in 5 matches on the strength of 68% of the possession and 26 shots (although only 6 were on target). The first half was a showcase for Bastos, as the Brazilian sent through a cheeky backheel for Kallstrom (who was denied by Boulogne GK Bedenik) in the 21st minute, put his header off the crossbar in the 27th minute, and had his 34th minute free-kick stopped by Bedenik. The second half featured more pressure from Lyon, as Boumsong was stopped by Bedenik in the 48th minute and Kallstrom denied twice. The goal finally came in the 72nd minute when a cross from Delgado resulted in a shot by Bastos that rebounded to Pjanic for the finish. The match had been out of reach for almost its entirety, but the 3 points were secured in the 91st minute when Govou and Tafer combined well to leave an easy finish for Delgado.

Monaco 1-0 Rennes – In a match that was statistically dominated by Rennes they were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. In the 4th minute Leroy (this guy?) put his shot over the crossbar, while Kembo-Ekoko was stopped by Monaco GK Ruffier in the 10th minute. The lone goal of the match came in the 20th minute when a free-kick from Nene was headed on by Puygrenier to Park for the finish (earning the latter the GSTGC award in the process). Kembo-Ekoko shot wide just before the break, and on the other end of the pitch Puygrenier went wide after the restart. From that point forward Monaco was on the defensive, trying to maintain the lead in the face of significant pressure. The match finished with saves from Ruffier on Bangoura (72nd minute), Leroy (79th minute) and Marveaux (84th minute) to preserve the victory.

Montpellier 0-1 Bordeaux – The surprise of Ligue 1 this season missed out on an excellent opportunity to pressure their rivals for the title in one of the better matches of the weekend. They started more quickly, with a free-kick from Costa headed in by Montano, but the goal was disallowed as the latter was adjudged to be offside. In the 30th minute Gourcuff earned a soft PK when his free-kick hit a flailing arm in the wall, but karma rewarded Montpellier when their GK Jourdren stopped Gourcuff on that spot-kick. Gourcuff remained active, sending in a free-kick to Tremoulinas who passed on to Chamakh for a header that went wide in the 42nd minute. Immediately before the half Costa sent a free-kick straight into the arms of Bordeaux GK Carrasso, and the latter denied the former again on a great save in the 53rd minute. The goal came quickly after that, with Jussie finishing off a pass from Gouffran for the eventual match-winner on an excellent shot with the outside of his boot. The final opportunity to equalize came in the 76th minute, but Montano was stopped by Carrasso.

Nancy 2-0 Nice – Nancy dominated this match, taking 21 shots (8 of those on target) to move further into safety from the drop-zone. In the 12th minute Feret shot wide in a signal of intent, while his teammate Traore was denied by Nice GK Ospina in the 29th minute. On either side of the break Feret and Malonga combined off corner kicks for volleyed shots wide, switching provider and shooter roles from the 43rd to the 47th minute. The opening goal came in the 50th minute when Hadji played Feret for an excellent shot into the top corner. The next goal came just 2 minutes later when a shot from Hadji hit the post only for Malonga to send home the rebound. They continued to pressure, with Chretien shooting wide in the 65th minute and Bakar hitting the post in the 73rd minute. Nancy should have had another goal in the 84th minute when Feret was stopped by Ospina and Dia sent the follow-up towards the net, but the shot was cleared off the line by Nice defender Diakite.

Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Lens – Neither club looked particularly aggressive in this match, and in the end the sharing of points was a deserved result. The action didn’t get started until the 26th minute when Luyindula was stopped by Lens GK Runje. In the 30th minute a free-kick from Jallet was headed over the crossbar by Erdinq, while Clement sent his free-kick directly over the bar in the 37th minute. After the break Sessegnon received the ball with his back to the goal, but he put his shot wide after an excellent turn. There were shouts for a PK in the 54th minute when Luyindula was taken down in the box, but it would have been a soft decision. The goal for PSG came in the 70th minute when Makelele (!) finished off a well-worked 1-2 with Erdinq, while Lens equalized in the 74th when Maoulida took a cross from Roudet with ample time to finish and made no mistake on his shot.

So, after Matchday 17 the top of the table looks like this: (1) Bordeaux, with 37 points on a 12-1-4 record and a +16 goal differential; (2) Marseille, with 31 points on a 9-4-3 record and a +12 goal differential; (3) Montpellier, with 30 points on a 9-3-4 record and a +6 goal differential; and (4) Lyon, with 29 points on an 8-5-4 record and a +6 goal differential.