French Football

[johntheclaret]

Sat 19th Sep

Results

Boulogne 0 - 2 Bordeaux
Grenoble 0 - 4 Rennes
Nice 1 - 3 Monaco
St Etienne 1 - 1 Auxerre
Lorient 3 - 1 AS Nancy
Sochaux 2 - 5 Valenciennes

Sundays fixtures

16:00 Lens vs Lille
16:00 Toulouse vs Le Mans
20:00 PSG vs Lyon

Table (top Ten)

Pos Team P Pts
1 Bordeaux 6 16
2 Marseille 6 14
3 Lyon 5 13
4 Rennes 6 12
5 Monaco 6 12
6 Montpellier 6 11
7 Paris St Germain 5 10
8 Lorient 6 10
9 Boulogne 6 8
10 Nancy 6 7

Review of Saturdays games

Ligue 1 pace-setters Bordeaux maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Boulogne on Saturday.
Bordeaux controlled the game at Boulogne for long stretches and could have scored many more than the two goals, which came in either half from Yoan Gouffran and an own goal from Yoann Lachor.
Gouffran opened the scoring in the 35th minute when heading home David Bellion's corner.
The champions then doubled their lead on 68 minutes when the unfortunate Lachor diverted Yoann Gourcuff's free-kick into his own net.

Marseille went second in the table, two points behind Bordeaux, with a 4-2 victory over Montpellier.
The home side went four goals up thanks to efforts from Lucho Gonzalez (31), Mamadou Niang (34), Edouard Cisse (39) and Souleymane Diawara (51), before the visitors got late consolations from Younes Belhanda and a Souleymane Camara penalty.

Rennes moved up into fourth in the table with a convincing 4-0 win at rock-bottom Grenoble, although crowd trouble marred the match.
Asamoah Gyan scored twice, the first after only 27 seconds, with Kader Mangane and Sylvain Marveaux also on target.

Monaco went fifth with a 3-1 derby success at third-from-bottom Nice, whose coach Didier Olle-Nicolle will be feeling the pressure even more after seeing his side slip to their fourth defeat on the trot.
A penalty from Nene and Alejandro Alonso's strike meant the visitors were 2-0 up with less than 12 minutes on the clock.
Loic Remy pulled one back for Nice three minutes from the break but Alonso restored his side's two-goal cushion in the 72nd minute.

Meanwhile, a dominant performance saw Lorient see off Nancy 3-1 and leapfrog their opponents in the table.
Sinamary Diarra, who was at the heart of much of Lorient's attacking play, opened the scoring two minutes before the break and Kevin Gameiro made it 2-0 on the hour mark.
Paul Alo'o pulled one back in stoppage time for Nancy but there was still time for Lorient to add a third through Olivier Monterrubio's penalty.

Valenciennes put in a five star performance at Sochaux to claim only their second win of the Ligue 1 season.
The visitors twice came from behind to win 5-2 thanks to a Gregory Pujol brace and goals from Carlos Sanchez, Johan Audel and Fahid Ben Khalfallah, while Jeremie Brechet and Ryad Boudebouz were on target for the hosts.
The home side's miserable evening was completed with the dismissal of Vaclav Sverkos eight minutes from time.

St Etienne remain in the Ligue 1 relegation zone after a draw against Auxerre at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard.
Alain Perrin's side forged ahead through Gonzalo Bergessio's 14th-minute goal but Auxerre snatched a point after 75 minutes thanks to Kevin Lejeune's volley.

Former champions Lyon now sit third in the table but Claude Puel's side can draw level on points with Bordeaux at the top with victory at Paris St Germain on Sunday.

[johntheclaret]

Interesting story regarding the Rennes match yesterday. Something that goes to show that soccer can bring out the worst in some people, and the hooliganism is not restricted to the English leagues.

Having read the posts in the Aurtalian Soccer boards, regarding the trouble with AU and Melbourne fans, it seems that soccer and hooliganism go hand in hand worldwide.

Rennes moved up into fourth in the table with a convincing 4-0 win at rock-bottom Grenoble, although crowd trouble marred the match.

Missiles were launched onto the pitch and flares set off as the game was twice interrupted, with both sets of players leaving the field in the second half.

It just seems to me as a pom, that hooliganism in focussed on more if it happend in England.

[johntheclaret]

Sun 20th Sep

Results

Auxerre 2 Nice 0
Rennes 1 St Etienne 0
Monaco 2 PSG 0

Review

Auxerre prevailed in the battle at the bottom on Sunday, while Monaco sprung a surprise on Paris St Germain. Elsewhere, Rennes' fine form continued as they enjoyed a productive afternoon on home soil. Getting a first victory on the board offers a welcome confidence boost to any side, and there is now just one team in France yet to get off the mark.

Auxerre secured their first success of the season after overcoming struggling Nice 2-0 on home soil.
Cedric Hengbart put the hosts ahead after 29 minutes, before Daniel Niculae sealed the points with a second 12 minutes from time.
Nice have now suffered three consecutive defeats and slip into the relegation zone as a result.

Monaco secured Sunday's most impressive result as they brought Paris St Germain's unbeaten run to an abrupt halt.
Late goals from Chu-Young Park (85) and Nene (87) handed the men from the principality all three points.
A bad night for the capital club was compounded in injury-time when Stephane Sessegnon was dismissed after picking up two yellow cards.

Rennes stretched their unbeaten run to five games this weekend with a narrow 1-0 victory over St Etienne.
Sylvain Marveaux grabbed the only goal of the game after 61 minutes at Route de Lorient, helping to pile further misery on the out-of-sorts visitors.

[johntheclaret]

this must be the biggest story coming out of french football this week.

Rennes face poaching charge

Chateauroux claim Doumbia was signed illegally

Ligue 1 outfit Rennes face a tapping-up backlash after it emerged they face sanction from the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP).
The governing body of French football are set to investigate an accusation by Second Division side Chateauroux that they saw a player illegally snatched from their youth ranks.
Rennes are said to have breached transfer rules in their acquisition of Tongan starlet Hamed Doumbia this summer.

The case levelled against the men from Brittany is similar to that they have lodged against Manchester City over the loss of Jeremy Helan.
The issue of poaching has become big news in recent weeks, with Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea seeing their actions fall under the spotlight.

Just following on from my post in the "Home Grown Rule" topic, you can expect more and more small clubs raise these kind accusations as the big sides look for the best young talanet.

It's justy a bit ironic the Reenes are accused of stealing a youth player themselves, after raising the very same claim against Man City.

[johntheclaret]

French League Cup draw

The pick of the ties in the Coupe de la Ligue fourth round sees St Etienne face Marseille at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Cup holders Bordeaux travel to Le Mans while second division outfit Metz face a tough task when they take on Lyon at the Stade Gerland to face the side that knocked them out at the same stage last year.
There will be at least one Ligue 2 side in the quarter-finals as Sedan play Clermont, while Paris St Germain travel to Coupe de France holders Guingamp.
Elsewhere, Lille host Rennes, Lens play Lorient and Toulouse take on Nancy.

Fourth-round draw in full:

St Etienne v Marseille
Lyon v Metz
Toulouse v Nancy
Lille v Rennes
Le Mans v Bordeaux
Lens v Lorient
Guingamp v Paris St Germain
Sedan v Clermont

Ties to be played on the 12th and 13th of January 2010.

[johntheclaret]

Sunday 27th September

Le Mans 3 - 0 Lens
Lille 1 - 1 Nice

Saturday 26th September

Auxerre 2 - 0 Grenoble
Lorient 1 - 1 PSG
AS Nancy 2 - 1 Sochaux
Valenciennes 3 - 2 Marseille
Montpellier 1 - 0 Boulogne
Monaco 1 - 2 St Etienne
Lyon 2 - 1 Toulouse

Pos Team P Pts
1 Lyon 7 17
2 Bordeaux 6 16
3 Marseille 7 14
4 Montpellier 7 14
5 Rennes 6 12
6 Paris St Germain 7 12
7 Monaco 7 12
8 Lorient 7 11
9 Nancy 7 10
10 Valenciennes 7 10
11 Toulouse 7 8
12 RC Lens 6 8
13 Auxerre 7 8
14 Boulogne 7 8
15 St Etienne 7 7
16 Sochaux 7 6
17 Lille 6 5
18 Le Mans 6 4
19 Nice 6 4
20 Grenoble 7 0

Bafetimbi Gomis' header ensured Lyon maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign with a 2-1 home win over Toulouse.
The visitors took the lead through Moussa Sissoko's low shot on nine minutes, but Yannis Tafer levelled early in the second half.
Gomis secured the points for Lyon on 71 minutes when he rose to head home Miralem Pjanic's corner.

Marseille twice threw away the lead before slipping to a surprise 3-2 defeat at Valenciennes to fall three points behind Lyon.
Fernando Morientes opened the scoring for Marseille from close range on 13 minutes, but Valenciennes levelled on 21 minutes through Milan Bisevac.
However, Marseille were back in front within 60 seconds through Mamadou Niang, only for the hosts to restore parity again on 29 minutes courtesy of David Ducourtioux's header.
With the clock ticking, Valenciennes stole the points in the 84th minute when Rafael Schmitz nodded home Renault Cohade's free-kick.

Auxerre gained just a second Ligue 1 win of the campaign after a 2-0 success over pointless Grenoble, with both teams having a man sent off.
The hosts' Ireneusz Jelen and Grenoble's David Jemmali were dismissed after 21 minutes for fighting before Auxerre took a 63rd minute lead.
Benoit Pedretti's low finish broke the deadlock before Cedric Hengbart turned home the loose ball on 84 minutes after Daniel Niculae's shot struck the post.

Gonzalo Bergessio headed home a last-minute free-kick to earn St Etienne a much-needed 2-1 victory at Monaco.
Boubacar Sanogo had earlier headed St Etienne into a third-minute lead, only for Monaco to level on 56 minutes through Sebastien Puygrenier's header.

Paris St Germain battled back to draw 1-1 at Lorient with both goals coming towards the end of the first half.
Former Portsmouth midfielder Arnold Mvuemba put Lorient ahead in the 40th minute before Guillaume Hoarau equalised for PSG in first-half stoppage-time.

Youssouf Hadji's first-half brace was enough to earn Nancy a 2-1 triumph at home to Sochaux, who replied through Marvin Martin late on.
Hadji scored from the penalty spot after three minutes following Damien Perquis' foul on Issiar Dia and increased the lead on 39 minutes.

A 79th minute goal from Nenad Dzodic continued Montpellier's fine start to the season with a 1-0 win at home to Boulogne.

[Il Duce]

Lille 4 - 0 Valenciennes
Lorient 2 - 2 Grenoble
Paris S.G. 1 - 0 Auxerre
Sochaux 1 - 0 Nice
Toulouse 1 - 0 Boulogne
Lens 1 - 0 Marseille
Le Mans 1 - 1 Saint-Etienne
Nancy 0 - 3 Bordeaux
Lyon 1 - 1 Rennes

Rank Team GP W D L GS GA P
1 Bordeaux 14 9 1 4 23 10 28
2 Olympique Lyon 14 7 5 2 24 18 26
3 Auxerre 14 8 2 4 15 11 26
4 Lorient 14 7 4 3 24 13 25
5 Montpellier 13 7 3 3 21 16 24
6 Valenciennes 14 7 2 5 24 20 23
7 Olympique Marseille 13 6 4 3 23 16 22
8 Monaco 13 7 1 5 16 13 22
9 Toulouse 14 6 3 5 15 11 21
10 Stade Rennes 14 5 5 4 20 14 20
11 Nice 14 6 2 6 16 22 20
12 PSG 13 5 4 4 18 13 19
13 Lille 14 5 4 5 18 16 19
14 Sochaux 13 6 0 7 14 19 18
15 Lens 14 5 3 6 14 21 18
16 Nancy 14 5 2 7 18 22 17
17 Saint-Étienne 14 4 2 8 11 18 14
18 Le Mans 14 2 3 9 12 21 9
19 Boulogne 13 2 3 8 9 23 9
20 Grenoble 14 0 3 11 8 26 3

[johntheclaret]

13th January

Boulogne 0 - 0 Sochaux
Monaco 4 - 0 Montpellier

Pos Team P Pts
1 Bordeaux 19 43
2 Lille 19 34
3 Montpellier 18 33
4 Marseille 18 32
5 Auxerre 19 32
6 Lyon 19 30
7 Paris St Germain 19 29
8 Lorient 19 29
9 Rennes 19 29
10 Valenciennes 19 28
11 Monaco 18 27
12 Nancy 19 26
13 RC Lens 19 26
14 Toulouse 19 25
15 Sochaux 17 25
16 Nice 19 22
17 Le Mans 19 16
18 St Etienne 19 16
19 Boulogne 18 13
20 Grenoble 19 7

[johntheclaret]

Saturday 16th January

Auxerre 0 - 0 Boulogne
Le Mans 0 - 3 Lorient
Monaco 2 - 0 Sochaux
Montpellier 1 - 0 Nice
Lille 3 - 1 PSG
Rennes 1 - 1 Lens
Valenciennes 1 - 3 Toulouse

Pos Team P Pts
1 Bordeaux 19 43
2 Lille 19 34
3 Montpellier 19 33
4 Marseille 18 32
5 Auxerre 19 32
6 Lyon 19 30
7 Monaco 19 30
8 Paris St Germain 19 29
9 Lorient 19 29
10 Rennes 19 29
11 Valenciennes 19 28
12 Nancy 19 26
13 Sochaux 18 26
14 RC Lens 19 26
15 Toulouse 19 25
16 Nice 19 22
17 Le Mans 19 16
18 St Etienne 19 16
19 Boulogne 19 14
20 Grenoble 19 7

[Il Duce]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation

1 Marseille (C) 38 23 9 6 69 36 +33 78 2010–11 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Lyon 38 20 12 6 64 38 +26 72
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Auxerre 38 20 11 7 42 29 +13 71 2010–11 UEFA Champions League Play-off round
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Lille 38 21 7 10 72 40 +32 70 2010–11 UEFA Europa League Play-off round
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Montpellier 38 20 9 9 50 40 +10 69 2010–11 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Bordeaux 38 19 7 12 58 40 +18 64
7 Lorient 38 16 10 12 54 42 +12 58
8 Monaco 38 15 10 13 39 45 −6 55
9 Rennes 38 14 11 13 52 41 +11 53
10 Valenciennes 38 14 10 14 50 50 0 52
11 Lens 38 12 12 14 40 44 −4 48
12 Nancy 38 13 9 16 46 53 −7 48
13 Paris Saint-Germain 38 12 11 15 50 46 +4 47 2010–11 UEFA Europa League Play-off round 2
14 Toulouse 38 12 11 15 36 36 0 47
15 Nice 38 11 11 16 41 57 −16 44
16 Sochaux 36 11 8 17 28 52 −24 41
17 Saint-Étienne 38 10 10 18 27 45 −18 40
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18 Le Mans (R) 38 8 8 22 36 59 −23 32 Relegation to the Ligue 2
19 Boulogne (R) 38 7 10 21 31 62 −31 31
20 Grenoble (R) 38 5 8 25 31 61 −30 23

[johntheclaret]

Taiwo set for Marseille stay

Coach insists stopper will remain at French club this season
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps has ruled out a move for Taye Taiwo, despite the defender reportedly attracting interest from Tottenham.
Nigeria left-back Taiwo is eager to play regular football after his first-team chances at the Stade Velodrome were reduced by the arrival of Gabriel Heinze from Real Madrid last term.

[johntheclaret]

Blanc suspends entire French panel

LAURENT BLANC will begin his tenure as France’s manager without any of the 23 players who brought shame to the nation at the World Cup finals, having chosen to suspend each one of them for his first match in charge against Norway next month as punishment for their shocking and mutinous behaviour in South Africa.

Blanc has succeeded the deposed Raymond Domenech – the decision to appoint him was taken before the World Cup – and he hopes the unprecedented move to impose the one-match suspension will also serve to draw a line under a controversy that has seen scorn heaped upon Les Bleus.

Blanc said upon his unveiling as Domenech’s replacement that he would bear no grudge against the 23 players, who went on strike before the final group game against South Africa in protest at the decision of the France Football Federation to expel striker Nicolas Anelka from the squad, after a furious dressingroom row with Domenech.

[johntheclaret]

The French league 2 kicks off today

Fri 6th Aug 2010

French Ligue 2
Dijon 0 - 0 Angers
Boulogne 1 - 1 Clermont Foot
Reims 1 - 1 Laval
Chateauroux 0 - 0 Istres
AC Ajaccio 1 - 0 Nimes
Metz 0 - 2 Evian Thonon Gaillar
Tours 4 - 3 Sedan
Grenoble 1 - 0 Le Havre
Vannes OC 1 - 0 Troyes

[johntheclaret]

Sat 7th Aug

French Ligue 1
PSG 3 - 1 St Etienne
Nice 0 - 0 Valenciennes
Auxerre 2 - 2 Lorient
Marseille 1 - 2 Caen
Lens 1 - 2 AS Nancy
Lyon 0 - 0 Monaco
Rennes 1 - 1 Lille
Sochaux 2 - 1 Arles
Toulouse 2 - 0 Brest

[johntheclaret]

Sun 8th Aug

French Ligue 1
Montpellier 1 - 0 Bordeaux

[johntheclaret]

Mon 9th Aug

French Ligue 2
Nantes 0 - 2 Le Mans

[johntheclaret]

Fri 13th Aug

French Ligue 2
Troyes 0 - 2 Nantes
Le Mans 2 - 2 Reims
Angers 0 - 0 Boulogne
Nimes 1 - 1 Chateauroux
Laval 1 - 0 Metz
Evian Thonon Gaillar 4 - 0 Vannes OC
Istres 1 - 0 Tours
Le Havre 2 - 0 AC Ajaccio
Clermont Foot 2 - 2 Dijon
Sedan 1 - 0 Grenoble

Question: why does Hollands maion port Le Havre play in the French league ??

[johntheclaret]

Sat 14th Aug

French Ligue 1
Valenciennes 3 - 2 Marseille
Brest 1 - 1 Auxerre
Lorient 1 - 2 Nice
St Etienne 3 - 2 Sochaux
AS Nancy 0 - 3 Rennes
Arles 0 - 1 Lens

[johntheclaret]

Sun 15th Aug

French Ligue 1
Caen 3 - 2 Lyon
Bordeaux 1 - 2 Toulouse
Lille 0 - 0 PSG

[johntheclaret]

Ligue 1 August

22nd Aug
Paris S.G. 1 2 Bordeaux
Sochaux 0 0 Lille
Montpellier 0 0 Caen
21st Aug
Auxerre 1 1 Valenciennes
Toulouse 2 1 Arles
Rennes 0 0 Saint-Etienne
Nice 1 1 Nancy-Lorraine
Marseilles 2 0 Lorient
Lyon 1 0 Brest
Lens 2 2 Monaco
17th Aug
Monaco 0 0 Montpellier

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Diff Pts
1 Toulouse 3 3 0 0 6 2 4 9
2 Caen 3 2 1 0 5 3 2 7
3 Rennes 3 1 2 0 4 1 3 5
4 Valenciennes 3 1 2 0 4 3 1 5
5 Nice 3 1 2 0 3 2 1 5
6 Montpellier 3 1 2 0 1 0 1 5
7 Paris S.G. 3 1 1 1 4 3 1 4
8 Lens 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
9 Sochaux 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
10 Lyon 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
11 Saint-Etienne 3 1 1 1 4 5 -1 4
12 Nancy-Lorraine 3 1 1 1 3 5 -2 4
13 Marseilles 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 3
14 Auxerre 3 0 3 0 4 4 0 3
15 Monaco 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3
16 Lille 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 3
17 Bordeaux 3 1 0 2 3 4 -1 3
18 Lorient 3 0 1 2 3 6 -3 1
19 Brest 3 0 1 2 1 4 -3 1
20 Arles 3 0 0 3 2 5 -3 0

Ligue 2

27th Aug
Clermont 2 1 Le Havre
Ajaccio 0 0 Metz
Dijon 1 0 Nîmes
Reims 0 1 Troyes
Tours 2 0 Laval
Boulogne-sur-Mer 2 0 Istres
Angers 0 3 Sedan
Nantes 2 0 Vannes
20th Aug
Sedan 1 1 Boulogne-sur-Mer
Metz 1 0 Vannes
Le Havre 2 1 Reims
Istres 1 1 Dijo
Troyes 3 0 Ajaccio
Évian Thonon Gaillard 1 2 Tours
Clermont 1 2 Angers
Nîmes 1 0 Grenoble
Le Mans 0 2 Châteauroux
Laval 0 0 Nantes
17th Aug
Châteauroux 2 1 Le Havre
Boulogne-sur-Mer 2 1 Nîmes
Vannes 2 1 Laval
Ajaccio 0 0 Le Mans
Grenoble 0 2 Angers
Tours 3 2 Clermont
Dijon 1 1 Sedan
Reims 0 0 Istres
Nantes 0 1 Évian Thonon Gaillard
16th Aug
Metz 0 1 Troyes

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Diff Pts
1 Tours 5 4 0 1 11 7 4 12
2 Évian Thonon Gaillard 4 3 0 1 8 2 6 9
3 Boulogne-sur-Mer 5 2 3 0 6 3 3 9
4 Troyes 5 3 0 2 5 3 2 9
5 Sedan 5 2 2 1 9 6 3 8
6 Châteauroux 4 2 2 0 5 2 3 8
7 Angers 5 2 2 1 4 4 0 8
8 Dijon 5 1 4 0 5 4 1 7
9 Nantes 5 2 1 2 4 3 1 7
10 Le Havre 5 2 0 3 6 6 0 6
11 Istres 5 1 3 1 2 3 -1 6
12 Vannes 5 2 0 3 3 8 -5 6
13 Le Mans 4 1 2 1 4 4 0 5
14 Clermont 5 1 2 2 8 9 -1 5
15 Laval 5 1 2 2 3 5 -2 5
16 Ajaccio 5 1 2 2 1 5 -4 5
17 Nîmes 5 1 1 3 3 5 -2 4
18 Metz 5 1 1 3 1 4 -3 4
19 Reims 5 0 3 2 4 6 -2 3
20 Grenoble 4 1 0 3 1 4 -3 3