Matchday 12: Saturday Highlights

By: Thomas | November 1st, 2009

AJ Auxerre 2-1 Montpellier Hérault SC

Montpellier are beginning to lose their sheen. It seems they can’t hold up against traditional tough midtable sides like Rennes and Auxerre. They’ve also lost the surprise effect. Opposing managers now have an idea of what they’re up against, and have discovered the club’s weaknesses. Getting Ireneusz Jelen back has had an astronomical effect on Les Auxerrois. In their first four matches, they failed to score a single goal, but since Matchday 4 they have been undefeated, and this win brought them up to fifth place in the table. Watch out Bordeaux!

FC Girondins de Bordeaux 1-0 AS Monaco FC

This match, which happened to be a battle between first and second (which no one would have predicted at the beginning of the season), was much less exciting than last year’s version. Planus’ tap in off a Wendel free-kick kept Bordeaux in control of the top spot and allowed Lyon to overtake Monaco and move into second place.

US Boulogne Côte d’Opale 1-2 AS Nancy-Lorraine

I believe I predicted earlier that the only direction Boulogne were going was down. I think I was correct. USBCO fell to an unimpressive and inconsistent Nancy side who were without Gennaro Bracigliano, maintaining ASNL’s top ten position, and proving that Boulogne really are nothing more than a Ligue 2 side.

Grenoble Foot 38 0-2 LOSC Lille Métropole

An 11th straight defeat for Grenoble. They’re just way to unlucky. They hit the crossbar twice in this match, while Lille scored on each of their two shots. Mickael Landreau has returned from injury, starting in the net for LOSC, and Gervinho has continued to impress.

Racing Club de Lens 1-1 FC Lorient Bretagne Sud

Check out the Lens Offside for a full review.

Olympique de Marseille 1-1 Toulouse FC
Check out the Marseille Offside for a full review.

AS Saint-Etienne 0-1 Olympique Lyonnais

This was just the kind of storybook derby that I was expecting. Former Sainte favorite Bafetimbi Gomis started on the bench for Lyon, and the match remained pretty even until Gomis was brought in late on. Only minutes later, he put in the winning goal on a volley from a corner.