Ligue 1 action round-up - Week 1 - August 8/9, 2009
The French Ligue 1 kicked off last Saturday with many pundits’ early tips for the title, Marseille, enjoying a fine away victory over Grenoble - Mamadou Niang and Benoit Cheyrou providing the goals. Elsewhere Lyon had to come from behind twice against Le Mans to salvage a 2-2 draw, Modibo Maiga put Le Mans ahead but Mathieu Bodmer levelled shortly after. Mathieu Coutaeur restored their lead but with a minute to play, new signing - and Karim Benzema replacement - Lisandro Lopez repaid some of the faith in him as he snatched a point for the former champions.
Valenciennes had an opening day to forget, going down 3-1 at home to AS Nancy. The hosts had taken the lead thanks to Mamadou Samassa, but goals from Floyd Ayite, Bakaye Traore and Jonathan Brison put Nancy in a commanding position. Things got worse for the home side after Nicolas Penneteau was sent off deep into stoppage time. Emir Spahic grabbed a dramatic late equaliser against PSG as Montpellier drew 1-1. Veteran midfielder Ludovic Giuly had given the Parisians the lead not long after the Cyril Jeunechamp was given a second yellow card for the home side. Sochaux claimed a solid 1-0 win at Auxerre courtesy of Vaclav Seurkos’ solitary goal, while Nice also grabbed an away win at St Etienne - goals from Mahamane Traore and Loic Remy giving them a 2-0 victory.
The only home sides to win on the opening day were Monaco and Rennes. The former beat Toulouse 1-0 thanks to a goal from Brazilian striker Nene, and the latter enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win over newly promoted Boulogne - the goals coming from Ismael Bangoura, Kader Mangane and Jerome Leroy. Current Champions Bordeaux played on the Sunday and they enjoyed an emphatic 4-1 victory over Lens. Laurent Blanc’s side went in at half-time with the score at 1-1 after Issam Jemma cancelled out Wendell’s opener for Bordeaux. The second-half was a different story, however, as Yoann Gourcuff scored two goals before Arsenal target Marouane Chamakh completed the rout.
Lorient also played on the Sunday and enjoyed a surprise 2-1 victory at Lille. Lorient took the lead against the run of play when Gameiro scored, and soon after the break the lead was doubled thanks to Vahirua. Lille’s reply came courtesy of an own goal by Olivier Monterrubio - a disappointing performance from last season’s fifth placed team.
There were few surprises on the opening weekend and somewhat ominously for the rest of Ligue 1, Bordeaux managed a convincing win without playing too well, a trait often seen as the mark of true champions. However, May is a long time away and it shall be an interesting race to lift the Ligue 1 crown.
Full results
Auxerre 0-1 Sochaux
Bordeaux 4-1 Lens
Grenoble 0-2 Marseille
Le Mans 2-2 Lyon
Lorient 2-1 Lille
Monaco 1-0 Toulouse
Montpellier 1-1 PSG
Rennes 3-0 Boulogne
St Etienne 0-2 Nice
Valenciennes 1-3 AS Nancy
Ligue 1 action round-ups
Week 1 - 8/9 August, 2009
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