Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week for Auxerre, who claimed an impressive double-dip.

This week continued the trend of clubs struggling to score, as most sides could only find the back of the net once. The result of the week goes to Auxerre, who beat Bordeaux 2-1 and drew Montpellier 1-1 to boost their own chances at the Ligue 1 title.

Wednesday, March 3th:

Bordeaux 1-2 Auxerre – In a reshuffled schedule Les Girondins fell to an aggressive Auxerre club that was looking to threaten the top of the table. The former looked to have gotten off to a perfect start in the 7th minute when a cross from Tremoulinas drifted over the head of Auxerre GK Sorin. The latter then did well to prevent a 2-goal deficit when he pushed a shot from Sertic over the crossbar. The action then moved to the other end of the pitch as Hengbart sent a header just wide, and Auxerre felt aggrieved at the end of the half when Pedretti was brought down in the box by Sertic with no call.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week for Union Sportive Boulogne Cote d'Opale for their 0-0 draw against Les Gones.

This week saw quite a few clubs only manage to find the back of the net once, leading to a few surprising results. What was completely unsurprising, however, is the fact that once again Paris Saint-Germain supporters got out of control, leading to 40 arrests ahead of their match at Lens. The result of the week goes to Boulogne, who managed a scoreless draw at home against Lyon despite being well in the relegation zone.

However, the match of the week was clearly Bordeaux v. Montpellier, as the sides saw numerous cards (including an early RC), inconsistent (and baffling) referee decisions, penalty kicks and some cracking goals, while Laurent Blanc did his best to ignore the rumours of being replaced by former Marseille gaffer Eric Gerets if he leaves this summer to take over Les Bleus or a “bigger” European side.

Ed Note: Watching a Ligue 1 match on the Canal+ broadcast is a real treat. The announcers constantly crack jokes and make fun of any poor play, they interview the gaffers during the match in the technical area, they interviewed Ciani after his ejection – just good stuff. Even if you don’t speak French it’s worth it to watch for the excellent graphics (e.g. space on the pitch covered) and the super-slo-mo replays.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week for L'OM after they smacked around my beloved PSG.

This week saw quite a few clubs look absolutely pathetic in front of goal, managing very few shots and failing to score. The reduced scoring also resulted in no winner for the GSTGC award for the week, despite a serious number of cards given out.

Once again Bordeaux saw their match postponed, although this time it was the weather that was responsible, as their match with Le Mans was canceled due to incredibly high winds.

The result of the week goes to Marseille, as they abused Paris Saint-Germain for an emphatic 3-0 away victory which moved them into 4th place on the table.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week goes to Les Verts for their big win over Montpellier.

This weekend saw less scoring on Saturday and an offensive explosion on Sunday, but still no candidates for the GSTGC award.

The match between Bordeaux and Auxerre was postponed so that Les Girondins could prepare for their Champions League match against Olympiakos on Tuesday, so the top of the table looks a little different.

The result of the week goes to Saint-Etienne, as Les Verts stunned high-flying Montpellier 1-0 to improve their chances of avoiding relegation.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

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

This week saw quite a few close matches, and the tension resulted in an increase in YCs as well (although there were only a few candidates for the GSTGC award). There were no big surprises in the results, however, with all of the league leaders holding serve. The result of the wek goes to Marseille, who got a crucial 2-1 victory over Monaco to keep their dreams of Champions League football alive for next season.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week to Stade Rennais FC.

This week saw a further tightening at the top of the table as Bordeaux are only ahead by 3 points while Marseille moved into 5th with a Top-4 finish well within their sights. Although some clubs failed to register a goal, there was quite a bit of scoring overall as only one match finished in a goal-less draw.

The result of the week goes to Rennes, who stunned Bordeaux 4-2 in front of a raucous crowd.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week to Union Sportive Boulogne Cote d'Opale.

This week saw a good bit of scoring, although several clubs were held goal-less in disappointing efforts. After some surprising results in the Coupe de la Ligue during the week, clubs came out with renewed vigor to continue their push through the second half of the season only to experience some more surprises. The top of the table has tightened up a bit, with 2nd-4th place separated by only 3 points and a glut of clubs just outside that group. Things may come down to goal differential, in which case Montpellier and Lyon will need to improve that statistic if they hope to secure a spot for the Champions League.

Meanwhile, the result of the week goes to Boulogne, as the 19th-place club played Bordeaux to a goal-less draw away for an impressive 1 point.

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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.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week for Les Dogues, who move into 2nd place.

After a very long layoff, Ligue 1 got back to action this weekend with a full slate. There were 2 matches on Wednesday amidst some good Coupe de le Ligue action, and 9 matches on Saturday, leaving the big Bordeaux v. Marseille tilt alone on Sunday. The result of the week goes to Lille, who used a 3-1 thrashing of Paris Saint-Germain to move into 2nd place in the table.

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Ligue 1 Mid-Week Review

Big win for MHSC gets them the result of the week.

Since there is no such thing as Boxing Day* in France, Ligue 1 played a mid-week schedule in order to allow its players to spend some quality time with family over the holidays. This week saw more competition for the GSTGC award, several more RCs (including one which was rescinded. wha?), and a few surprises for some clubs (both good and bad). The result of the week goes to Montpellier, who beat a faltering Lyon side 2-1 to right the ship and move back into 3rd place in the table.

*Speaking of Boxing Day, join us on Saturday for a 3-for-1 special of liveblogging featuring me, James T. and Norfolk Ned. You have nothing else to do.

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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.

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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.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Result of the week to Les Dogues.

This week saw more on-field shenanigans, as cranky officials around Ligue 1 handed out record numbers of cards resulting in several dismissals. However, despite the large number of cards and numerous high-scoring matches, we were once again left without a weekly winner of the GSTGC award. The result of the week goes to Lille, who posted consecutive  4-0 victories on Thursday (over Saint-Etienne) and Sunday (over Monaco) to move into 3rd place. Due to various swine-flu and Champions League-related issues, clubs have played anywhere from 15 to 17 matches, with most clubs having played 16 at this time.

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Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Les Girondins once again get the result of the week.

This week saw several candidates for the GSTGC award, numerous cards (including several of the red variety), and some cracking matches with surprising results. The result of the week was a difficult decision, as Lille upset Lyon 4-3 and Grenoble got their 1st victory of the season, but in the end it was Bordeaux’s 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain that got the nod, as the former moved 4 points clear at the top of the table (although 2nd place Montpellier have a match in hand).

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