Saturday, November 28, 2009
Lille 4-0 Valenciennes
Lorient 2-2 Grenoble Foot38
Monaco P-P Montpellier
Paris Saint-Germain 0-0 Auxerre (full report)
Sochaux 1-0 Nice
Toulouse 1-0 Boulogne-Sur-Mer
Racing Club de Lens L-L Olympique de Marseille
Lille 4-0 Valenciennes
Rudi Garcia’s Lille put the breaks on Valenciennes’ strong away form, recording a victory that lifts them significantly up the table.
VA made a confident start to proceedings and could easily have taken the lead on eight minutes. Fahid Ben Khalfallah won the ball 25-yards from goal, cut away from Adil Rami and shot goalwards only for Mickael Landreau to make the block.
Lille’s response was instantaneous, with Ludovic Obraniak pitching a shot just wide of the target. This effort would signal the start of a period in which the match swung too and fro. The hosts continued to create the better chances, with a neat pass from Rio Mavuba picking out Gervinho, who allowed the ball to slide away from him inside the box on the slick surface.
Actual effort on goal would prove something of a rarity, so when Pierre-Alain Frau broke the deadlock just four minutes before the break it came as something of a shock. Yohan Cabaye’s centre picked out the striker, who headed accurately home.
Having finished the first period well, LOSC started the second in even brighter fashion. Frau had gone close to scoring his second of the game before Gervinho danced by three defenders at the edge of the box to shoot home.
Outclassed and somewhat dispirited, VA promptly conceded a third goal, and again it was Gervinho who was their executioner, chipping home neatly from a very tough angle, utterly killing the game as a contest.
More pain was to follow for the visitors. Eden Hazard dodged his way into the box to be tripped by Gaetan Bong. From the penalty spot Cabaye completed the scoring.
Lorient 2-2 Grenoble Foot38
Grenoble came within touching distance of their first victory of the season, only to be denied in stoppage time by Lorient.
A far from fluent first half saw the home side struggle to break down their opponents. Marama Vahirua released Kevin Gameiro, but the striker had the ball pinched from his toes by Ronan Le Crom.
It would actually be the struggling guests who would enjoy the better of the first period, but that did not stop them falling behind on 37 minutes in typically calamitous circumstances. A corner kick was missed by Le Crom and hit Bostjan Cesar, who could do nothing to stop the ball from landing in his own goal. Things may have deteriorated further, but Gameiro’s shot lacked accuracy.
After this bright conclusion to the first half, Lorient switched off and would be forced to pay a heavy price. GF38 were initially impotent, but they levelled things up on 62 minutes. A cross by David Sauget caused panic in the home defence and Daisuke Matsui slammed home.
Danijel Ljuboja had missed a presentable chance by the time a costly error from stand-in goalkeeper Lionel Cappone allowed Jimmy Juan the simplest of finishes to put the visitors ahead for the first time this season.
Now looking more secure at the back than they did in the early weeks of the campaign, GF38 seemed to be hanging on with few worries, although there could be little question that the guests came under more intense pressure in the final ten minutes.
Two minutes into stoppage time, Lorient snatched a somewhat undeserved leveller. Again Le Crom was at fault, missing another cross, and Kevin Gameiro was not about to pass up the chance of tucking the ball home from close range, saving his side embarrassment and winning them a point.
Sochaux 1-0 Nice
Francis Gillot’s Sochaux managed to tiptoe past Nice thanks to a solitary strike, though they would come under some fairly intense pressure.
Nice made a quick start to this encounter, flourishing until Loic Remy was forced off early on. Three presentable early chances were created, the best of which fell to the former Olympique Lyonnais player, who pushed an effort goalwards from a Anthony Mounier centre. His strike was terrifically blocked by Teddy Richert.
A further effort from Mounier signalled the height of their domination, as Yassin Mikari sent a presentable chance wide for the hosts only a few minutes later. The Tunisian would pose problems to the guests throughout the first half, and it would be him who poached the opening goal of the game, smartly onto a rebound after Kevin Maurice-Belay’s shot had been saved by David Ospina.
Even a quick reaction from the guests could not draw them back on level terms before the close of the opening period. They would, however, begin another lengthy spell of pressure on 60 minutes, with Emerse Fae flashing a shot just over the top when well placed. Mahamane Traore was then superbly denied by Richert, before Mamadou Bagayoko saw a goal disallowed for a foul he had committed.
This proved to be Nice’s last hurrah as Sochaux held out for all three points.
Toulouse 1-0 Boulogne-Sur-Mer
It was tense at times, but Toulouse picked up three points at the expense of struggling Boulogne.
Andre-Pierre Gignac was, characteristically, the first player to have a meaningful effort on goal. His effort was comfortably fielded by Jean Francois Bedenik, who would then hold a stinging volley from Moussa Sissoko at the second attempt.
If the goalkeeper had done relatively well in the early stages, he was largely to blame for the opening goal of the game, coming for an Etienne Didot free kick but getting nowhere near it, therefore allowing Mohamed Fofana a simple finish. Had Gignac’s superb effort on the stroke of half-time gone it, the game would have been over.
But Boulogne also had their moments in the opening period. Johann Ramare had an effort from range go just wide, but this proved to be a sighter as a thumping strike moments later forced Yohann Pele in the home goal to fist clear.
For 15 second half minutes it seemed that Toulouse were out to go for the kill. Gignac cracked a ball sweetly just wide of the top corner of the net, and Franck Tabanou’s ambitious volley was blocked before it reached goal. The young winger was in the thick of the action again as he centred for Sissoko, who screwed a shot wide.
With just a one goal lead, the advantage remained delicate. Boulogne nearly levelled as Kevin Das Neves drove a dangerous shot towards the top corner. Pele had to be at his best to make the block.
In stoppage time both teams missed chances. Gignac sent a good chance wide for the hosts, while Pele saved them a point by denying Matt Moussilou.
Reviewed by Unknown
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12:24 AM
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