Côte derby ends in draw

Football

Monaco 1-1 Nice

The big Côte d’Azur derby ended in a draw on Saturday after Nice grabbed a late equalizer to earn a point at Stade Louis II.

It wasn’t a bad result in the end for the visitors, who were reduced to ten men for most of the game after Drissa Diakaté was sent off, somewhat harshly, midway through the first half, for a high-footed challenge on Mathieu Coutadeur. Despite Monaco’s domination of the game, Nice managed to keep the scores level at 0-0 going into half time.

The home side continued to push forward in the second half and was awarded a penalty with 14 minutes to go when Julien Sable brought down Dieumerci Mbokani in the box. Park Chu-Young converted from the spot to give Monaco the lead.

On another day Monaco could have easily taken all three points, but, conversely, the penalty seemed to galvanize Nice and they fought back, equalizing nine minutes later. Emerse Faé played through Eric Mouloungui and the substitute beat Stephane Ruffier one-on-one to salvage a point for the underdogs.

A draw was a fair result after a poor game. Nice, struggling for much of the game with just 10 men will be happy with the point. The result for Monaco sums up their season so far, as they have struggled to take advantage in games when they have been on top.

Marseille 4-0 Montpellier

Champions Marseille come out of the weekend top of the table, after coasting to victory at home to Montpellier.
L’OM opened the scoring with a stunning goal from Lucho Gonzalez after 20 mintutes. Benoit Cheyrou’s ball into the box was headed down by Brandao and sent into the path of Gonzalez who struck a sweet half volley past Jourden in the Montpellier goal.

Cheyrou was on hand for Marseille’s second, eight minutes later. His long-range shot was deflected off a Montpellier defender, wrong footing Jourden before it crept into the bottom right-hand corner.

Marseille added a third just after the hour mark. In a quick flowing Marseille counter-attack Lucho Gonzalez opened up the Montpellier back line, threading a carefully weighted through ball to Mathieu Valbuena, who then slotted home past Jourden.

The home team made it four in injury time in textbook, route one football. A long ball from the back by Taiwo found Loic Remy and the former Nice striker got it past an onrushing Jourden.

Marseille is beginning to look a good bet for the championship again having overpowered a Montpellier side that had started the match in second place in the table. After qualifying earlier in the week for the knockout stages of the Champions League as well, Didier Deschamps men could well have the momentum that could take them all the way to their second Ligue 1 title in succession.

Ligue 1 Table

1. Marseille 25pts

2. Lille 25pts

15. Nancy 18pts

16. Nice 17pts

17. Monaco 15pts

18. Caen 14pts

National Ligue

Cannes 4-2 Orléans
After a barren October when Cannes couldn’t buy a goal in the league, they seem to have finally ended the drought. Four goals in the Coupe de France last week was followed by a convincing league win at home to Orléans on Friday night.

Cannes opened the scoring after just six minutes through Youcef Touati, and doubled their lead midway through the first half with a goal from veteran Czech striker Jan Koller.

Leading 2-0 at half time Cannes came under pressure straight away in the second half. Jamel Zahiri scored twice in a three-minute period to level the scores at two apiece. However a second Koller goal just after the hour mark put Cannes back in front. Benoit Leroy secured the result for Cannes with a last minute goal to make the score 4-2.
The result lifts Cannes back to third and gives the team a morale boosting much-needed if they are going to challenge for promotion this year.

Paris FC 1-1 Fréjus Saint-Raphael

Fréjus have struggled of late but a draw away to Paris FC at the weekend keeps them within touching distance of the leaders and still with a shot at promotion.

Fréjus took the lead at Stade Charléty, six minutes into the second half through midfielder Xavier Barrau. The lead was short lived though, as Jérémie Clement equalized for Paris FC four minutes later.

Neither side managed to grab a winner and secure the three points, but Fréjus will now be focussing on December’s fixture list. With three games against teams in the relegation zone, three points will be expected from each of these games if they are going to pose a challenge in the new year.

National Ligue Table

1. Bastia 39pts

2. Guingamp 38pts

3. Cannes 32 pts

4. Beauvais 31pts

6. Rouen 28pts

7. Fréjus 27pts

8. Niort 27pts