Matchday 13 - Can you say “no surprises”?

By: Sam | November 12th, 2006

My goodness, what are Marseille up to? Five losses in a row is bad for a team at the bottom of the table, so what of it if the team in question was second at the start of the skid? Hello crisis. The rest of the league produced their fair share of excitement as well.

Lyon 2-1 Valenciennes, hoo baby! We had to wait until 15 minutes were left for things to get started, but get started they did. The two sides exchanged missed oportunities for the first 75 minutes, but just then, on-fire Savidan humiliated Cris before shocking the home crowd and putting the young ‘uns up front. But the same defender who had just gotten burned leveled the game at one ten minutes later on a wobbly header. Another defender, Squilacci, put the hosts in front for good when he lobbed Penneteau on a strange play two minutes later.

Bordeaux 0-0 Auxerre could’ve seen les Girondins into temporary second place, but strong performances by AJA keeper Fabien Cool and Bordeaux keeper Ulrich Ramé kept both teams from drawing blood. Instead they just draw. Mavuba could’ve been the hero, but he hit Cool’s crossbar fifteen minutes from time.

Lens 0-0 Rennes was a well-anticipated matchup between two hot teams. Rennes had recently vanquished the mighty Lyon, and Lens were on a streak of well-earned points. The match was however dismal, without many clear chances for either team, in a match that could’ve been great. Lens are however in third place.

Le Mans 1-1 Paris SG was pretty much what was expected. Paris, the penalty magnet, converted from the spot 11 minutes in through Kalou. Half an hour later, Le Mans pulled one back when in-form Bangoura crossed for Lucau’s noggin, who placed the ball out of Landreau’s reach and into his net. Kalou had another few chances to lift his team, but failed to capitalize.

Lorient 2-0 Nancy was a happy one. Up to then in second place, Nancy were surprised by the Merlus’ fierce attacking. Le Pen opened the scoring 66 minutes in on a nice pass from Jallet. Twenty minutes later, Saïfi could’ve put it away for the home side, but he was stopped in his tracks by Bracigliano. No worries however, Namouchi picked up and netted the easy goal. Nancy are now in 4th, Lorient are in 9th.

Nantes 2-2 St-Etienne was a heart-breaker for both sides. ASSE really thought they could achieve a better result than this against a weak Nantes team, and the latter thought they had the game in hand at the end. Cubilier put them in front on forty minutes with a superb volley. Feindouno, unfazed, disgusted the Canaris just before half-time on a set play header. Nantes got the lead six minutes from time when Boukhari unleashed a monster of a shot that beat Janot. But with under a minute to play, Hognon killed hopes of a win when he coolly scored on a error from the Nantes defense.

Nice 0-0 Sochaux proved a strong defensive showing for both teams. Young and talented Nice keeper Hugo Lloris proved instrumental, for example when he blocked two shots from Isabey early in the game. At the other end, Sochaux backstop Teddy Richert did his duties as well in the last half-hour when he saved a few Nice shots to conserve the point.

Toulouse 3-1 Sedan was no surprise to anyone. High-scoring TFC went ahead just before the break on Fabinho’s beautiful crossing header. Elmander banged home a nice passing play five minutes into the second half. Twelve minutes later, the visitors climbed back to within one when Pujol struck well on a service from Jau. However Elmander, in a great night, individually poked through the defense and planted Sedan into the pitch, as well as into last place.

Troyes 0-4 Monaco, how about that! Gakpé opened the scoring on 21 minutes after finishing a good team effort. On 73 minutes, Meriem was brought down in the area and converted his own penalty. Touré galavanted merrily through a lackluster defense ten minutes later to put the visitors even more ahead, and Di Vaio couldn’t resist adding to the score in injury time.

Lille 1-0 Marseille, yet another loss for OM. A sensational start to the season, a strong start to the game, but a superb strike from Bodmer in the injury time of the first half put Lille into second place. Excellent performances by both keepers stood out more than anything in this one. But that wasn’t enough to keep Marseille from being immensly frustrated after their fifth straight loss.

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Matchday 13 - Can you say “no surprises”?

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