Mixed fortunes for Riviera football clubs

The man who took AS Monaco to UEFA Championship glory in 2004 had seen the team he took over at the start of the season slip to seventh in the French premier league (Ligue 1). While they may only have garnered one little point for the goals scored, in what was described as a “crazy” match against second-place Lyon, it was a good result although they drop to eighth.

At the other end of the scale AS Monaco, who have had a cracking start to the season, failed to capitalise on their match against lowly Grenoble, who arrived at the Louis II stadium with 11 defeats in a row to their name (a national record) and no points. In the end it was a spiritless nil-nil draw which meant Monaco dropped to fourth position, having been in third, more by luck and over-enthusiastic play than excellence on the field. The team is currently bottom of the “fairplay” league with one red card and 29 yellows so far for the season.

Meanwhile Monaco’s arch rivals, OGM Nice, who had been languishing perilously close to the bottom of the league early on in the season, notched up their third victory in a row by beating Paris Saint-Germain away, 1-0. The nine points gained over the three wins has put them in eleventh position. Bordeaux remains at the top.

Claire Lathbury