Matchday 7: Saturday Report

By: Thomas | September 26th, 2009

In another surprising and unpredictable day in Ligue 1, Valenciennes steal the headlines when they come back from a goal down twice to beat Olympique de Marseille 3-2. Nineteen goals were scored in only seven matches–2.74 goals per match–and 26 yellows and 2 red cards were awarded.

AS Monaco 1-2 AS Saint-Etienne

(0-1 Sanogo 3′, 1-2 Bergessio 90′+2)

(1-1 Puygrenier 56′)
In an exciting match in the principality Saint-Etienne move out of the drop zone and AS Monaco fall from the Europa League places. Sainte’s new signings seem to have been effective, as new recruits Gonzalo Bergessio and Boucabar Sanogo each found the net, while other signing Augusto Fernandez threatened on set pieces. Saint Etienne have displayed a remarkable change in form since the arrival of the two Argentines, and AS Monaco have shown that they really are no more than a midtable team.

AJ Auxerre 2-0 Grenoble Foot 38

(1-0 Pedretti 63′, 2-0 Hengbart 84′)
Auxerre continue to improve their position, this time by beating a Grenoble side still without a single point. I can’t say I watched any of this game but the highlights, but apparently both Ireneusz Jelen and David Jemmali were sent off in the 21st minute when an altercation after Jemmali’s dangerous tackle turned violent. Benoit Pedretti opened his scoring tally for the season, while deffender Cederic Hengbart becomes Auxerre’s top scorer in Ligue 1 after scoring his second in two Matchdays.

FC Lorient 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain

(1-0 Mvuemba 40′, 1-1 Hoarau 45′+1)
PSG continued their slump against 8th place Lorient, who continue to impress. PSG had Stephane Sessegnon back, and his presence proved vital, creating the goal that equalized the match for the Parisiens. Lorient opened the scoring with some nice passing around the box, culminating in a goal to former Portsmouth player Arnold Mvuemba, but PSG brought it back to level terms barely five minutes later when a good play involving Sessegnon and Ludovic Giuly resulted in a tap-in for Guillaume Hoarau’s first goal of the season.

Valenciennes FC 3-2 Olympique de Marseille

(0-1 Morientes 13′, 1-1 Bisevac 21′, 1-2 Niang 22′, 2-2 Ducourtioux 28′, 3-2 Rafael 84′)

“The OM coach had promised that Ligue 1 would see more of Fernando Morientes when the Spaniard was ready, and the ex-Real Madrid and Monaco forward responded to being handed his first start with his maiden goal in OM colours after just 13 minutes.

The strike sparked a glut of three more goals in the next 17 minutes as the balance of the match swung back and forth violently.

OM’s advantage lasted just seven minutes with Milan Bisevac levelling after Steve Mandanda and the Marseille rearguard had failed to deal with Rudy Mater’s corner.

The visitors, though, edged back in front on 23 minutes – Mamadou Niang claiming his fifth goal of the season after VA keeper Guy Rolland Ndy Assembe had parried a Morientes header invitingly into his path.

Schmitz strike

Having got their noses in front, Marseille again proved incapable of holding onto their lead, and Valenciennes were level before the half-hour mark. Johan Audel skipped by left-back Cyril Rool before delivering a cross that David Ducourtioux dived full-length to head past Mandanda.

Niang and Brandao both narrowly missed the target in the second half before Lucho Gonzalez brought a fine stop from Ndy Assembe, who provided the platform for the hosts to claim all three points.

With their defence holding firm, VA finally picked a way through from a well-delivered set-piece seven minutes from time. Renaud Cohade’s free-kick found Rafael Schmitz rising highest, and the Brazilian’s well-placed header beat Mandanda to give Philippe Montanier’s men their third win in a four-match unbeaten run.”

Ligue 1

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Montpellier HSC 1-0 US Boulogne

(1-0 Dzodic 78′)
In the battle of the promoted sides, Montpellier gained an unconvincing win against a Boulogne team looking set to quickly drop in the table. It took until the 78th minute to break the deadlock, and even then it was a sloppy goal after a questionable call where Matheiu Valverde appeared to have been fouled. This match was reportedly a snooze fest.

AS Nancy-Lorainne 2-1 FC Sochaux-Montbeliard

(1-0 Hadji (pen) 3′, 2-0 Hadji 39′, 2-1 Martin 82′)
Sochaux continued their awful slump today with defeat at a dangerous looking Nancy side. Charlie Davies has lost his early season form, and Sochaux looked lifeless. Nancy have been unexpectedly adept at putting the ball in the net this season, considering that their recent successes have mainly been down to a solid defense. Sochaux have well and truly returned to the relegation dogfight.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 Toulouse FC

(0-1 Sissoko 8′, 1-1 Tafer 52′, 1-2 Gomis 71′)
In one of the more interesting matches of the night, Les Gones continued their excellent form against a tough Toulouse side. Even without three quarters of their starting defense, Toulouse completely dominated the first half, going ahead early after a horrible mistake by Mathieu Bodmer. Toulouse almost extended their lead when Bodmer again fumbled, but Andre-Pierre Gignac was unable to slide the ball past Lloris and the half ended 0-1. Bodmer was taken off for 19 year old Yannis Tafer, and Jeremy Toulalan was shifted into the center of defense to compensate. Tafer’s impact was immediate, pounding an Aly Cissokho cross into the back of the net in the 52nd minute for his first Ligue 1 goal. Lyon finally took the lead late on when Bafetimbi Gomis continued his goalscoring run by deflecting Miralem Pjanic’s shot into the net with his head.

Await more exciting games tomorrow, when Lens travel to Le Mans and Lille take on Nice at home, followed by a much anticipated Rennes vs. Bordeaux match at the Stade Chaban Delmas.