Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week to ASSE for their draw with L'OM.

This week we had a default GSTGC award winner, due mostly to the fact that both the number of goals and the number of cards decreased, thus providing fewer opportunities. There was also a match postponement as parts of Europe suffered the same snowy fate as much of the Midwest/East Coast, with Boulogne and Sochaux forced to reschedule. Unfortunately, the latter club had already traveled the 7.5 hours (arriving in Boulogne-sur-Mer at 1:30AM) before being informed that 15cm (6 inches) of snow made the match impossible. This did not please gaffer Francis Gillot, whose squad now has 2 postponed matches to make up (the other is against Marseille). The result of the week goes to AS Saint-Etienne, who drew 0-0 with 2nd-place Marseille and moved out of the drop-zone.

Saturday, December 19th:

Bordeaux 4-1 Lorient – Bordeaux ran roughshod over an aspiring Lorient club, getting outstanding performances from all of their big names. Although Lorient had the first opportunity, with Amalfitano drawing a save from Bordeaux GK Carrasso in the 4th minute, it was non-stop pressure from Les Girondins after that point. In the 9th minute Fernando sent a shot over the crossbar, but the goal came soon after when a long ball from Gourcuff found Bellion, who promptly put his shot between the legs of Lorient GK Audard. The latter was busy for the remainder of the half, stopping a header from Cavenaghi in the 27th minute and a free-kick from Gourcuff in the 34th minute. The beleaguered net-minder then saw Bellion complete his brace in the 42nd minute after an excellent ball from Cavenaghi. Soon after the restart Lorient thought they had a chance to cut into the lead when Diarra was fouled in the box, but Sosa missed the resulting PK. Almost immediately after that some nice work on the attack from Plasil and Gourcuff was finished off by Cavenaghi for a 3-0 lead. The destruction was complete in the 75th minute when Gourcuff finally got a goal of his own off a free-kick from Chalme, although Gameiro did some excellent solo work in the 88th minute to avoid being shutout.

Grenoble 1-1 Nice – Grenoble took 21 shots (6 of them on target), committed only 11 fouls, and earned 8 corner kicks, but they once again let the 3 points slip out of their hands on a late equalizer. Nice started more quickly, with Grenoble GK Le Crom forced into saves on Mounier in the 6th minute and Traore in the 15th minute. On the other end of the pitch Nice GK Ospina parried a shot from Ljuboja and then made an excellent save on the follow-up from Courtois. Grenoble should have broken through in the 40th minute, but Dieuze had his volley cleared off the line by Nice defender Coulibaly. The second half started in a similar manner to the first, with Remy stopped by Le Crom in the 46th minute and hitting the post in the 53rd minute. Grenoble did take the lead in the 75th minute when Dieuze was able to finish off a pass from Ravet, but they were shocked in the 85th minute when Mounier beat three defenders and sent the ball to Ben Saada for a clinical finish and the draw.

Montpellier 0-2 Nancy – A faltering Montpellier was forced to play this match at home with no crowd support as punishment for crowd trouble during their August match against Nice, and they appeared to suffer from a lack of motivation with no support. In the 11th minute Ait Fana was stopped by Nancy GK Bracigliano, and the former then hit the crossbar with a header just 1 minute later. The opening goal came in the 32nd minute when Feret and Traore combined to free Bakar for the finish, and the next goal came in the 39th minute when Berenguer lobbed Montpellier GK Jourdren. On the other end of the pitch Camara was stopped by Bracigliano in the 53rd minute, which proved to be the final opportunity for the home side. Nancy, however, continued to press, with Dia shooting over the crossbar in the 59th minute, and Jourdren making great saves to deny Bakar twice in the final half-hour.

Rennes 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain – The club from the capital proved to be uninterested in this match, committing only 10 fouls and putting precisely zero shots on target. Erdinq seemed to be the only PSG player with any sense of offense, putting a shot into the side-netting in the 12th minute and hitting the post in the 17th minute. Although Rennes began slowly, the goal came in the 40th minute when Bangoura finished off some excellent work from Asamoah and Tettey. The goal-scorer could have had a brace just after the restart, but he sent his shot barely wide, and he was denied by PSG GK Edel in the 68th minute. The latter also stopped Briand in the 78th minute for the final chance for either club.

Valenciennes 0-0 Lens – Valenciennes took twice as many shots and held almost twice as much of the possession, but they were unable to solve the mystery of Lens GK Runje and were forced to share the points. The latter turned away Pujol in the 19th minute (header), 29th minute (volley), and 51st minute around a shot from the latter that went barely wide in the 31st minute. Audel then had his header saved by Runje in the 56th minute and sent another header just wide in the 63rd minute. Danic was also denied by Runje, in the 81st minute, and the latter was then relieved to see his defender Demont clear a shot from Ben Khalfallah off the line in the 87th minute to preserve the draw.

Saint-Etienne 0-0 Marseille – In a match that featured two storied clubs from Ligue 1 history, the draw was a surprise result between the 2nd-place club and the club near the bottom of the table. After firing gaffer Alain Perrin on Tuesday, Saint-Etienne entered this match under the direction of caretaker manager Christophe Galtier and responded with a solid defensive effort. Although they held 65% of the possession and took 26 shots (8 on target), L’OM found themselves turned away at every opportunity. The draw seems even worse considering that the first action of the match saw Saint-Etienne down to 10 men when Tavlaridis received a straight RC for pulling back Kone when he was through on goal. When Saint-Etienne GK Janot stopped the resulting free-kick from Gonzalez, Marseille still looked to be in good position to take the lead at some point over the next 80 minutes. Brandao sent a header wide in the 19th minute, and Abriel had a volley saved by Janot in the 28th minute, but the best chance for L’OM came in the 36th minute when a header from Mbia beat Janot only to be cleared off the line by defender Dabo. Chances for Saint-Etienne came in the second half, with Bergessio having a header saved by L’OM GK Mandanda in the 74th minute, and the latter making an excellent save to keep out Matuidi in the 88th minute. At the other end of the pitch, Janot produced an equally spectacular save to keep out Gonzalez in the 90th minute and preserve the draw.

Sunday, December 20th:

Auxerre 1-1 Toulouse – Toulouse crashed out of the Europa League during the week and were lucky to share the points from this match to continue their misery. In the 10th minute Capoue (the Auxerre version, as both clubs fielded a player with that name) sent his volley wide, while his teammate Jelen hit the crossbar in the 16th minute. They were put on the back foot in the 21st minute when Luan sent home a cross from Braaten to give Toulouse the 1-0 lead. Contout (Auxerre) and Ebondo (Toulouse) then each shot wide to end the first half, while the restart saw Coulibaly miss a golden chance for the equalizer when he Iwelumo’d a shot over the crossbar. Star striker Gignac then appeared to remember that he was involved in a match, forcing a save from Auxerre GK Sorin in the 68th minute. Toulouse GK Valverde then stopped a volley from Hengbart in the 73rd minute and kept out a header from Pedretti in the 81st minute. Toulouse went down to 10 men in the 86th minute when Didot received his 2nd YC (within a span of 5 minutes) for fouling Mignot, and dodged a bullet in the 89th minute when Tabanou appeared to handle the ball in the box and calls for a PK went unanswered. The equalizer came at the death when Contout finished off a well-taken flick from Niculae to stun Toulouse.

Lille 3-0 Le Mans – Lille rode their mid-week Europa League success to a dominant performance, putting 8 shots on frame and forcing Le Mans into 25 fouls. This match served as a bit of a coming-out party for youngster Eden Hazard, who got things going in the 4th minute when he forced a save from Le Mans GK Ovono. The opening goal came in the 12th minute a free-kick from Hazard was headed home by Chedjou. The lead should have been doubled in the 14th minute when Gervinho was brought down in the box by Camara, but Balmont hit the crossbar with the resulting PK. Hazard provided the assist for the second goal as well, playing Gervinho through on goal in the 26th minute (with the latter winning the GSTGC award for the week by default, since there were no other candidates). The youngster finally got a goal of his own quickly thereafter, with an outstanding solo run that started in the midfield. Ovono saved a shot from De Melo in the 61st minute and saw the latter volley over the crossbar in the 70th minute, as Lille GK Landreau watched in bemusement from the other end of the pitch as he had been relatively bored throughout the match.

Monaco 1-1 Lyon – In a very even match the sharing of points was the deserved result, but Lyon will be disappointed to slip further adrift of their rivals at the top of the table on a run of only 2 victories in their last 10 Ligue 1 matches. The first action also produced the opening goal, with Bastos taking Lyon to a 1-0 lead on an incredible free-kick. After Makoun was stopped by Monaco GK Ruffier, the latter saw his teammate Park volley home after some excellent work from Nene and Puygrenier in the 35th minute for the equalizer as Lyon GK Lloris went on walkabout. Monaco then had the better chances for the remainder of the first half, with Nene stopped by Lloris in the 38th minute and Park shooting over the crossbar in the 43rd minute. The second half began with a free-kick from Pjanic that deflected off Cris and forced Ruffier into a nice save. Monaco continued to press, with Mollo stopped by Lloris in the 52nd minute and seeing his header cleared off the line by Govou in the 68th minute. A 75th-minute substitution saw Toulalan come on for his first action in 6 weeks after his adductor injury, and Lyon seemed invigorated by his presence as Cris had a header stopped by Ruffier in the 83rd minute and the latter produced an outstanding save in the 88th minute to deny Delgado.

So, after Matchday 18 the top of the table looks like this: (1) Bordeaux, with 40 points on a 13-1-4 record and a +19 goal differential; (2) Marseille, with 32 points on a 9-5-3 record and a +12 goal differential; (3) Lille, with 31 points on a 9-4-5 record and a +14 goal differential; and (4) Lyon, with 30 points on an 8-6-4 record and a +6 goal differential.