Ligue 1 Mid-Week Review

Are Les Girondins uncatchable?

This week saw several superhuman performances from GKs, meaning less scoring overall than in previous weeks. Lille stumbled, allowing Montpellier to move back into 2nd place, but the result of the week goes to Bordeaux for strengthening their grip on the top of the table with a 3-1 win over hapless Grenoble.

Tuesday, January 19th:

Saint-Etienne 0-0 Rennes – The week started with a goalless draw, but Saint-Etienne will be happy with the point as it helps their ambitions to stay clear of relegation. In the 11th minute Payet had his shot stopped by Rennes GK Douchez, while on the other end of the pitch Saint-Etienne GK Janot kept out a header from Mangane. Each club had only one more opportunity in the half, with Marveaux hitting the post and Mirallas sending his volley just wide. Almost immediately after the restart Janot made a stunning save on a shot from Sow, whereas N’Daw sent his free-kick straight into the arms of Douchez. Saint-Etienne could have taken the full points very late in the match, but a shot from Sanogo produced a great kick-save from Janot to preserve the draw.

Wednesday, January 20th:

Grenoble 1-3 Bordeaux – Bordeaux maintained 62% of the possession in this match but it took falling behind for them to finally wake up. An early cross-turned-shot from Chalme was stopped by Grenoble GK Viviani, and after that the first half was dominated by the latter’s teammates. Dieuze sent his shot just wide in the 16th minute, while a volley from Coulibaly hit the post. The first goal should have come in the 40th minute when Akrour had his shot cleared off the line by Tremoulinas, but they didn’t have long to wait as a cross from Ljuboja allowed Batlles to find the back of the net in first-half stoppage time. The match turned very quickly after the restart when Juan received his second YC for a bad tackle on Jussie, putting Grenoble down to 10 men. The equalizer came soon after, as a cross from Tremoulinas found Gouffran for an easy finish in the 53rd minute. The lead arrived shortly after that when Chamakh headed home a cross from Chalme in the 56th minute, earning him the GSTGC award in the process. The destruction was complete in the 83rd minute when Tremoulinas capped off his outstanding match by earning his second assist as Cavenaghi finished off his cross.

Lens 0-1 Montpellier – Montpellier got back on track with a difficult win over Lens, leaving it until very late to secure the 3 points. They started on the back foot as Milovanovic sent a half-volley barely over the crossbar, while Boukari put his header just wide. Unfortunately for those in the stands, those were the only opportunities of the first half. The second half featured dominance from Montpellier, beginning with a shot from Montano that elicited an excellent save from Lens GK Runje. The same two players were involved just 5 minutes later when Montano beat the offsides trap but failed to beat Runje 1-on-1. Lens got a final chance at the first goal, but the shot from Milovanovic was excellently turned away by Montpellier GK Jourdren. The match-winner then came in the 86th minute when a long ball from Costa ended with a hard shot from Montano that scorched the net.

Lorient 1-3 Lyon – Despite being a statistically even match, Lyon dominated where it counted through the brilliance of Lisandro Lopez and Kim Kallstrom. Les Gones came out of the gate roaring as a volley from Delgado was well-saved by Lorient GK Audard in the 1st minute. However, Lorient came right back with a shot from Gameiro that was stopped by Lyon GK Lloris, who then watched the follow-up from Monterrubio go wide off the post. The first goal came in the 28th minute when a cross from Le Lan made its way into a static defense that watched Ducasse give Lorient the 1-0 lead. The 39th minute saw Gomis come on as a substitute, indicating that gaffer Claude Puel was clearly unhappy with his club’s performance. Lyon almost ended the half with an equalizer, but Delgado had his shot blocked and the follow-up from Kallstrom was put over the crossbar. The latter started off the second half with a free-kick off the crossbar, and it appeared that a goal was imminent. The substitution paid off in the 63rd minute when Lopez, who appeared to be offsides, headed home a cross from Gomis. It wasn’t long before Kallstrom latched onto a poorly-headed clearance from Amalfitano to earn a goal of his own, and he completed his brace with a quick strike in the 88th minute to put the match to bed.

Marseille 2-1 Le Mans – Marseille held onto their slim title hopes with a win against Le Mans in a dominant performance, taking 25 shots and maintaining 59% of the possession. Hatem ben Arfa earned a start with his excellent performance over the weekend and was active early, playing Valbuena through only for the latter to have his shot go off the post. However, it was Le Mans who struck first, with good work from Lamah and Helstad finished off by Le Tallec in the 16th minute. L’OM drew level in the 30th minute when Niang finished off a free-kick from ben Arfa, and they were unlucky not to take the lead in the 39th minute when Cheyrou was stopped by Le Mans GK Roche. The latter was responsible for Marseille’s second goal as he took down Brandao in the box and Niang completed his brace by slamming home the resulting PK. For his part, Niang should have had a hat-trick in the 72nd minute, but he was turned away by Roche. Le Mans had one final opportunity to equalize, but Le Tallec sent his shot wide.

Nice 0-1 Auxerre – In another even match it was Auxerre who took the 3 points on a very late and very controversial goal against a Nice club that has 8 players away on duty at the African Cup of Nations. In the 2nd minute Jelen, making his first appearance after a long time away from the pitch, had his header saved by Nice GK Ospina, while 1 minute later Mounier was stopped by Auxerre GK Riou at the other end of the pitch. The latter was busy throughout the match, as evidenced in the 24th minute when he stopped a free-kick from Sable and the volleyed follow-up from Remy. Auxerre began to exert pressure of their own, with Jelen forcing a save from Ospina at the very end of the first half, and Chafni doing the same shortly after the restart. That established a pattern, as it was Ospina who was the busier GK in the second half, stopping Birsa twice in quick succession before making a great save on Capoue. Despite that pressure, Nice could have taken the lead in the 92nd minute but Coulibaly saw his shot carom off the crossbar. They would rue their missed chances as Jelen finally got his goal in the 93rd minute on a through-ball, but Nice were incensed as he appeared to be well offsides.

Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Monaco – The season continues to disintegrate for the club from the capital as they dominated Monaco and lost, despite the latter never putting even a single shot on frame. In the 8th minute a shot from Luyindula was stopped by Monaco GK Ruffier, who also turned away the follow-up from Chantome. The action slowed down quite a bit for a while, with the next opportunity coming in the 37th minute as Luyindula put his header off the crossbar. Disaster almost struck for Monaco near the end of the first half when Mongongo headed back to Ruffier, who was a little too far off his line, but the GK managed to get back in time. The second half began with numerous chances for PSG, as Chantome was stopped twice by Ruffier, sandwiched around a shot from Giuly that hit the post. The lone goal came in the 68th minute when a cross from Costa was completely misplayed by PSG GK Edel, who flailed wildly as the ball found the back of the net off his leg for a true howler. PSG had only one final chance to equalize, but Hoarau was stopped by the in-form Ruffier in second-half stoppage time.

Sochaux 2-1 Lille – Lille had not dropped a point since November, but their loss to Sochaux saw them slip to 3rd place in the table despite taking 22 shots (9 of them on goal) and holding 61% of the possession. Sochaux got on the board early, as Perquis sent home a header on a corner from Martin in the 6th minute and Dalmat finished off a long run with a lob of Lille GK Landreau in the 11th minute. On the back foot so early, Hazard looked to save Lille’s chances in the match, forcing a save from Sochaux GK Richert in the 17th minute. A few minutes later Hazard was taken down in the box by Richert, but the latter made up for his gaffe when he stopped the resulting PK taken by Cabaye. Continued pressure saw a header from Rami cleared off the line by Martin and a shot from Balmont saved by Richert to end the first half. Lille continued to press in the second half, with Beria heading wide and Obraniak hitting the post. They were finally rewarded in the 76th minute when Vittek sent home an excellent diving header, but Dumont missed the chance at an equalizer late when his header was saved by Richert, leaving Lille disappointed.

Toulouse 0-0 Nancy – In this week’s snoozer the clubs combined to only put 5 shots on goal and managed to commit 43 fouls. An early diving header from Gignac (the only player who looked up for this match) found the side-netting, while on the other end of the pitch Hadji put his shot off the post. Action slowed until the half-hour mark when Gignac forced a nice save from Nancy GK Bracigliano, while Toulouse GK Valverde stopped Marange twice in quick succession. Toulouse had two more opportunities to take the lead, but Machado’s free-kick was denied by Bracigliano, as was a shot from Gignac. The final chance for Nancy came late, but Bakar put his shot straight at Valverde.

Boulogne 0-2 Valenciennes – Valenciennes played an efficient match and that allowed them to come away with the 3 points against a struggling Boulogne side. In the 14th minute a free-kick from Cohade was stopped by Boulogne GK Bedenik, who then turned away Audel in the 29th minute. The first half ended with action as Borne was fouled in the box by Audel, but Valenciennes GK Penneteau turned away the resulting PK from Blayac. The second half opened with action as a shot from Ducourtioux hit the crossbar, with the rebound falling to Fadir who fed Bong for the finish in the 49th minute. The lead could have been doubled 10 minutes later, but Pujol hit the post with his volley. That gave Boulogne some hope, but da Rocha failed to equalize in the 60th minute as he was stopped by Penneteau. The match ended in somewhat unusual fashion as a Boulogne corner in stoppage time saw Bedenik come all the way up the pitch, only to see a long clearance come out to ben Khalfallah who dribbled lazily and finished in the empty net.

So, after Matchday 21 the top of the table looks like this: (1) Bordeaux, with 47 points on a 15-2-4 record and a +22 goal differential; (2) Montpellier, with 39 points on a 12-3-6 record and a +3 goal differential; (3) Lille, with 37 points on an 11-4-6 record and a +19 goal differential; and (4) Marseille, with 36 points on a 10-6-4 record and a +11 goal differential.