Matchday 11 - Home advantage the real story

By: Sam | October 29th, 2006

Lens 1-0 Auxerre kicked off the day, and Lens pleased their fans by offing rivals AJA thanks to a fine goal by Demont on 62 minutes. A flurry of shots by both sides wasn’t enough to get a second goal on the board, and Lens sits in 6th place, whereas Auxerre drops to 14th.

Bordeaux 3-1 Sedan produced some excitement. The visitors took the unexpected lead after 18 minutes via a deflected shot by Belhadj. Just before the break, free kick artist Wendel tied the score. A minute after regaining the pitch, Micoud put Les Girondins in front with a nice header. The same man attracted a penalty 5 minutes later, which Darcheville converted. Bordeaux is 8th, Sedan 19th.

Le Mans 1-1 Lille provided a fabulous contest. The game got off to a quick start when MUC defender Bonnart deflected Keita’s shot into the net to give Lille the first lead. Ten minutes sufficed for Grafite to pound the ball into the mesh for the home side on a corner. Not much happened after, but both sides are still well-placed. Lille is 4th, while Le Mans has fallen down to 11th.

Lorient 1-0 Valenciennes was something exceptional. Lorient looked unlucky when their keeper Audard had to be replaced ten minutes in after suffering an injury, and things went from bad to worse when replacement Cappone was sent off on 25 minutes. Midfielder Ulrich Le Pen donned the keeper’s jersey for the remainder of the match. But hey, no big deal. The man of the hour stopped everything that came his way, and Saifi scored at the end of the first half to help Lorient to an unthinkable win. Lorient is still 13th, however, one spot behind Valenciennes.

Nantes 1-0 Monaco was “the match of fear” as they called it. The bottom two teams went at it, and Nantes came out deservedly on top. On a rebound shot, Rossi made no mistake to but the home side up at the 27th minute. Again, many wild shots in the late going were nothing doing and Nantes are breathing again, in 18th place. No such luck for Monaco, who sit at the very bottom.

Paris SG 1-0 Rennes proved to be very important for the capital’s club. Underachievers extrordinaires since the beginning of the season, they seem to be getting their act together recently. Defender Diané pranced through half of Rennes’ team and threaded keeper Pouplin for the only goal of the game. Paris climbs up to 10th, and Rennes sinks to 15th.

Toulouse 1-2 Sochaux was sure to be a fiery battle. It was. TFC went ahead early on a perfectly played header by Battles on 20 minutes. Santos pulled it back for Sochaux on a penalty at the 32nd minute. A equally raging hour ensued, and Sochaux put it away five minutes from time on a fast-paced action topped off by Ziani’s fine strike. Toulouse are still 5th, and Sochaux are getting in there, now 7th.

Troyes 3-1 Saint-Etienne was something else. I expected nothing else than a thrashing by ASSE, but what do you know. A parade of headers got the favourites on the board first, but Troyes popped back after 56 minutes thanks to a powerful shot by Danic. 18 minutes later a classy volley by Amzine put ESTAC in front. Giglitotti insured the win on 88 minutes with another marker. Troyes is still in dismal position (16th) but St-E also loses footing and goes down to 9th.

Nice 2-1 Marseille was another shocker. Second-place Marseille dropped their second straight and Nice got out of relegation zone. Rool put the minnows in front at the 20th minute on a nice play into the open net. Pagis got OM back on track at the hour mark on a nice strike from 15 yards. A last second-penalty proved once again to be lethal for Marseille, as Edmilson placed it nicely and Nice got their third victory of the season. Marseille is still in second place, and Nice is 17th.

Lyon 1-0 Nancy was a nice finish to the day. The sovereigns of French football sent young guns Nancy back home after a nice old 1-0 win at Gerland. John Carew put it in to help Lyon achieve a 10-1-0 record so far, and Nancy still has more than enough reasons to keep pushing. Lyon is in first place by 11 points, Nancy is third.

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