Posts Tagged ‘Laurent Banide’
La semaine en France: Week 36
A bite-size round-up of the week’s events in French football, for anyone who wants to keep up with what’s happening in Ligue 1 but hasn’t got the time (or the French) to do so.
Ligue 1
Anyone who doubts the truth in the old adage that a week is a long time in football would do well to speak to the jubilant people of Lille. Seven days ago their team had gone 56 years without winning a trophy and were in danger of being overhauled in the league by Marseille. One week on, they are practically assured of their first Coupe de France and Ligue 1 double since 1946.
The Coupe de France already in the bag (see below), Lille saw Marseille concede the title race initiative by drawing 2-2 at Lorient on Sunday. The margins between success and failure, however, were paper-thin. Had Benoît Cheyrou’s injury-time header from all of two yards not been caught on the goal-line by Lorient goalkeeper Lionel Cappone, Lille’s lead would have been trimmed to a single point.
As it was, Lille hosted Sochaux on Wednesday with a three-point lead to build on and a 53rd-minute goal from Gervinho secured a 1-0 win that puts them six points clear with two games to play. Barring a miracle, the title is theirs and a point at Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday will make mathematically sure. “It’s not over yet but, to be honest, it looks good,” admitted Lille skipper Rio Mavuba.
Lyon remain in third place despite a 1-1 draw at Brest on Monday, after PSG failed to capitalise by going down 1-0 at Bordeaux two days later. Lyon lead PSG by two points, with Rennes two points further back after ending a nine-game winless run by prevailing 2-1 at Saint-Etienne (for whom Bakary Sako scored direct from a corner-kick).
Lens’ 1-1 draw at Monaco condemned the northern club to Ligue 2 but an injury-time equaliser from Lens’ reported Manchester United target Raphaël Varane dragged Monaco into the drop zone, after Nancy and Caen both recorded handsome – and timely – victories.
Ligue 1 results
Sunday: Arles-Avignon 1-0 Toulouse, Caen 2-0 Montpellier, Monaco 1-1 Lens, Nancy 3-0 Nice, Saint-Etienne 1-2 Rennes, Valenciennes 1-1 Auxerre, Lorient 2-2 Marseille; Monday: Brest 1-1 Lyon; Wednesday: Bordeaux 1-0 PSG, Lille 1-0 Sochaux
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La semaine en France: Week 20
A bite-size round-up of the week’s events in French football, for anyone who wants to keep up with what’s happening in Ligue 1 but hasn’t got the time (or the French) to do so.
Ligue 1
There were few signs of post-Christmas hangovers as Ligue 1 resumed after the winter break, with wins for all the serious title contenders.
Leaders Lille immediately hit their stride with a 2-0 win at Nice, before Eden Hazard and Gervinho inspired Rudi Garcia’s side to a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Nancy in their re-arranged home game on Wednesday to send them four points clear of their title rivals.
Paris Saint-Germain, Rennes and Lyon head the chasing pack on 34 points, after all three kicked off 2011 with victories. PSG had the most difficult return to action, falling behind at home to Sochaux but equalising almost immediately through stand-in skipper Mamadou Sakho and securing a 2-1 victory thanks to a neat finish in the 23rd minute by Ludovic Giuly. Rennes, with new €3 million signing Razak Boukari spearheading the attack, put four unanswered goals past Arles-Avignon (including a delightful chip from Alexander Tettey and Yann M’Vila’s first ever Ligue 1 goal).
Yoann Gourcuff made his first appearance for Lyon since injuring his Achilles tendon at Schalke in November, but Bafétimbi Gomis was the star of the show with a brace of goals (the first an absolute stonker) in a 3-0 win over Lorient. Marseille had plenty of reason to cheer after beating Bordeaux 2-1. André-Pierre Gignac’s volleyed opener was his first goal at Stade Vélodrome since his summer move from Toulouse, while victory ended a run of five league games without a win and kept the champions within two points of PSG.
Toulouse climbed to sixth by beating Nancy 1-0, with Montpellier seventh after a late fightback saw them down Valenciennes 2-1. Saint-Etienne led 1-0 with 10 minutes to play at Lens but a Sébastien Roudet penalty quickly followed by a Loïc Perrin own goal saw Les Verts snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, dropping them two places to eighth.
Ligue 1 results
Saturday: Auxerre 1-1 Monaco, Brest 1-3 Caen, Lens 2-1 Saint-Etienne, Lyon 3-0 Lorient, Montpellier 2-1 Valenciennes, Nice 0-2 Lille, PSG 2-1 Sochaux, Rennes 4-0 Arles-Avignon, Toulouse 1-0 Nancy; Sunday: Marseille 2-1 Bordeaux; Wednesday: Lille 3-0 Nancy
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