Your Quick French Football Fix

Sad Tigana is sad.

This week saw a mix of French football action, as we had some Ligue 1 matches, the semi-finals of the Coupe de le Ligue, and a number of Coupe de France clashes.

LIGUE 1:

Lille 3-0 Nancy – Les Dogues continued their mastery of the Ligue with 61% of the possession and 22 shots taken (although only 9 of those were on frame) in an excellent display. Things began quickly as Cabaye put a shot into the side-netting in the 6th minute, followed shortly by shots from Sow and Hazard that required saves in quick succession from Nancy GK Gregorini. After Hazard sent a shot wide, Nancy finally got off their first shot with Hadji forcing a save from Lille GK Landreau in the 20th minute. Near the break Balmont was fouled in the box by Berenguer to give Lille a PK, but Cabaye’s effort was saved by Gregorini. The first goal came almost immediately after the restart, with Gervinho finishing off some good work from Cabaye in the 47th minute. It took just 2 minutes for the next goal, as Hazard sent home a curling shot to finish off a counter-attack. The final goal came on the hour mark when a shot from Sow was pushed out by Gregorini to a waiting Gervinho, who had little to do to complete his brace. The match ended on an even more sour note for Nancy, as Luiz received a straight RC for a tackle from behind on Hazard.

Lens 2-0 Caen – The other match-in-hand to be made up this week saw this relegation scrap dominated by Lens, who are perhaps benefiting from the new manager effect. Caen had the first opportunity of the match, but Hamouma was turned away by a good save from Lens GK Runje. The latter’s teammates then began to apply their pressure, with Maoulida and Bedimo eliciting saves from Caen GK Thebaux. The opening goal came in the 20th minute on a poor clearance that was sent home with an excellent volley from Hermach. The pace of the match slowed considerably, and the next chance also saw the next goal, with Maoulida taking a pass from Sertic and curling home a shot. Caen then began to push back, with Nivet having one shot deflected and another saved by Runje. They were unable to break through, and the final action of the match saw Akale shoot wide.

COUPE DE LIGUE:

The league cup semi-finals saw Paris Saint-Germain fall to Montpellier in extra time on an Olivier Giroud header of a Geoffrey Dernis cross in the first tilt. The second found Marseille turning away Auxerre on the strength of goals from Brandao and Andre-Pierre Gignac.

COUPE DE FRANCE:

The minnows continue to surprise in the larger domestic competition, once again taking down some Ligue 1 Goliaths. The carnage began with a 1-0 victory for Ligue 2′s Sporting Clud de L’Ouest Angers over a Bordeaux side that featured a near-full strength starting XI. Jean Tigana was bitterly disappointed in the effort of his charges, particularly Ciani and Tremoulinas in defense, who left GK Carrasso stranded in the 65th minute on the goal from Sebastien Renouard.

The bigger surprise was Stade Olympique Chambery Foot, as the 5th division side (Championnat de France Amateur 2) took down Brest 4-3 on PKs after a 1-1 full-time effort. Both of the goals came in extra time, with Brest breaking through via Bruno Grougi in the 107th minute, and Maoda Malick Faye responding for Chambery in the 117th.

Some of the Ligue 1 sides had a bit of trouble, but still managed to turn away the bothersome lower-league clubs at the end of the day. Rennes were fairly comfortable in beating 4th division Football Club Vaulx en Velin 2-0, but Lille were taken to the limit in their 1-0 victory over 5th division Entente Sportive Wasquehal. For their part, Paris Saint-Germain were made nervous in the end by 5th division club Sporting Union Agen Foot after a 69th-minute goal from the minnows came in response to efforts from Luyindula (47th minute) and Hoarau (49th minute), but they hung on for the 3-2 victory.

League play resumes next weekend, and for some of the bigger clubs that is all they have left.