Mid-Week Ligue 1 Review

Seriously, why do you have a goose on your club logo?

In the spirit of Christmas, things were a bit more subdued this week in Ligue 1.

There were fewer dismissals (and cards overall), but also fewer goals, as the clubs looked to be winding down in anticipation of the upcoming 3-week break.

Although there were some absolute snoozefest matches, there were flashes of brilliance here and there to provide some early holiday cheer.

The result of the week goes to Valenciennes, who were a bit lucky to come away with a 1-0 victory over Lyon as Les Gones stumbled yet again.

Tuesday, December 20th:
Nancy 1-3 Marseille – L’OM held 62% of the possession, and that was more than enough to knock around an overmatched Nancy side. The first goal came in the 18th minute when Mathieu Valbuena finished off a nice 1-2 with Loic Remy, but Nancy equalized in the 37th minute when Reynald Lemaitre headed home a cross from Jean Calve. It took just 4 minutes for Marseille to retake the lead, with Stephane Mbia executing a wonderful diving header on a cross from Morgan Amalfitano. There were goals waved off on either side of the half, but Marseille finally got their deserved 3rd goal in stoppage-time when Lucho Gonzalez finished off another excellent pass from Valbuena.

Wednesday, December 21st:
Auxerre 2-2 Dijon – Auxerre overwhelmed the promoted side on the stat sheet (61%-39% possession; 23-8 on shots; 38-7 on crosses) but could only come away with the shared points. Dijon opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Brice jovial rounded Auxerre GK Olivier Sorin but had his shot blocked by Stephane Grichting, only for Benjamin Corgnet to send home the follow-up. Much of the remainder of the half saw excellent pressure from Les Auxerrois, but the next goal again came from Dijon when Jovial was the beneficiary of good work from Corgnet and Thomas Guerbert. Auxerre began to climb back after the restart, but their first goal didn’t come until the 80th minute when Anthony Le Tallec headed home a corner from Alain Traore. The latter was instrumental in the equalizer as well, taking the ball off Dijon defender Samuel Souprayen and passing it to Issam Jemaa for the easy finish. As a nice bonus, it was reported [FRENCH LINK] that Kamel Chafni and linesman Johann Perruaux made nice this week.

Evian 4-2 Montpellier – The promoted side were surprisingly game, perhaps catching the title contenders off-guard to pull off a stunning victory. They started things early, with several free-kicks from Cedric Barbosa calling Montpellier GK Geoffrey Jourdren into action. However, the opening goal didn’t arrive until shortly after the break, and it came from the league leaders as John Utaka was turned away by Evian GK Stephane Andersen only to have Younes Belhanda send home the rebound. That set off a frenzy, with Evian equalizing in the 52nd minute as Barbosa finished off a counter-attack, only to see them go behind again in the 54th minute as Olivier Giroud beat the offside trap and coolly chipped over Jourdren. In the 68th minute Saber Khalifa finished off a cross from Guillaume Rippert to equalize again, and from that point on it was all Evian. The latter club took the lead in the 71st minute on a header from Cedric Cambon, and finished off the scoring just 4 minutes later when Brice Dja Djedje found the back of the net with his free-kick.

Lille 4-4 Nice – Les Dogues took 29 shots (putting 10 of those on frame) and held 62% of the possession, but that still wasn’t enough to get past a Nice side that finished with only 10 men. The opening goal came in the 9th minute when a shot from Aurelien Chedjou deflected off Nice defenders Larrys Mabiala and Renato Civelli to find the back of the net, but the latter equalized in the 16th minute on a header off a David Hellebuyck corner. Lille retook the lead in the 27th minute when Joe Cole finished off a good 1-2 with David Rozehnal, but Nice equalized again in the 35th minute through Franck Dja Djedje. The latter then put his side ahead in first-half stoppage-time, putting in the follow-up after a shot from Eric Mouloungui was denied by Lille GK Mickael Landreau. The 71st minute saw the dismissal of Mouloungui for his 2nd YC after a foul on Florent Balmont, and Lille took advantage to equalize in the 76th minute through Eden Hazard. They regained the lead in the 88th minute when a pass from Ludovic Obraniak saw an excellent half-volley from Balmont, but Nice had the final word in stoppage-time as a shot from Kevin Gomis off a corner bounced around in the box before being sent home by Francois Clerc.

Lorient 0-0 Caen – ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Innocent Emeghera hits the post!!!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Rennes 1-0 Bordeaux – Stade Rennais righted the ship a bit with a good victory over Les Girondins, despite only coming away with a single goal after peppering Bordeaux GK Cedric Carrasso with 14 shots (9 on frame). The latter’s teammates got off the first shot of the match in the 12th minute, but the effort from Jaroslav Plasil was easily saved by Rennes GK Benoit Costil. From that point forward, Rennes were completely dominant, with much of the pressure coming from Victor Hugo Montano. The lone goal of the match came in the 53rd minute on an absolute rocket from Jires Kembo-Ekoko, but the margin could have been even larger if not for several good saves from Carrasso.

Sochaux 0-2 Ajaccio – A surprising Ajaccio side came away with a clinical victory (for their first away win of the campaign) despite being absolutely dominated statistically by Les Lionceaux. The first half consisted of nothing but weak efforts on goal, and the match didn’t begin in earnest until the 65th minute when Benjamin Andre headed home a pass from Richard Socrier. The 78th minute saw a header from Mehdi Mostefa on a Damien Tiberi free-kick find the back of the net off the knee of Sochaux defender Mathieu Peybernes.

Toulouse 0-0 Brest – After an early miss from Eden ben Basat, Toulouse turned up the pressure, but neither side was able to garner any good opportunities in the first half. Le TFC maintained their aggressive posture after the break, mostly through the efforts of Paulo Machado. The latter nearly took the full points for his side in the waning moments, but his shot was turned onto the crossbar by Brest midfielder Ousmane Coulibaly.

Valenciennes 1-0 Lyon – Les Gones slipped yet again, missing another chance to make up ground on some of the sides above them in the table. Valenciennes had the run of play early, and were unlucky not to go in front when Gael Danic missed an absolute sitter. The lone goal came in the 28th minute under strange circumstances, as a free-kick from Foued Kadir was misplayed by Bafetimbi Gomis into the back of the net off Aly Cissokho for an OG. The second half saw both sides with chances, but Lyon missed equalizing as Lisandro Lopez hit the crossbar while Alexandre Lacazette was turned away by Valenciennes GK Nicolas Penneteau.

Saint-Etienne 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain – Although PSG appeared to have the run of play in the first half, Les Verts wound up looking better on the stat sheet in terms of opportunities (42 crosses, as compared to 13 for the capital club). The lone goal of the match proved fortunate for PSG, as in the 32nd minute a shot from Mathieu Bodmer hit the post and bounced into the goal off of ASSE GK Stephane Ruffier. After the restart Kevin Gameiro looked likely to get a more “legitimate” goal for his side, but the best opportunity of the half saw Saint-Etienne miss the equalizer when a shot from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang elicited a great save from PSG GK Salvatore Sirigu. After Ruffier was called into action to deny Jeremy Menez, Gameiro and Nene in quick succession, the final chance of the match came when a good effort from Florent Sinama-Pongolle was denied by Sirigu to preserve the full points.

So, after Matchday 19 we have:
(1) Paris Saint-Germain, with 40 points on a 12-4-3 record and a +14 goal differential; (2) Montpellier, with 37 points on an 11-4-4 record and a +16 goal differential; (3) Lille, with 36 points on a 9-9-1 record and a +14 goal differential; and (4) Lyon, with 35 points on an 11-2-6 record and a +10 goal differential.
GSTGC Award: Mehdi Mostefa (Ajaccio)