After the excitement and high entertainment of Ligue 1′s debut week of the 2011/2012 season, it was inevitable that the second would struggle to live up to the high precedent set by a cracking opening weekend. 31 goals scored by 31 different scorers is quite a feat and with 60 minutes gone in six of the games, there was only one goal. Thankfully however it did not stay that way and last weekend’s matches produced 18 goals which is still a respectable tally.
When watching Ligue 1 you should expect the unexpected and that is exactly what has been proved correct over the opening two weekends of football in France. Title favourites Marseille, Lille and Paris Saint-Germain have only mustered four points out of a possible 18 between them and four surprise sides find themselves with 100% records so far. Toulouse, Montpellier, Caen and Saint-Etienne have all won both of their matches and although it is far too early to read into it, sit atop the Ligue 1 table with only Rennes and Lyon of the “big teams” are keeping the early pace.
Les Rouges et Noirs entertained PSG on Saturday looking to follow up their impressive 5-1 hammering of Dijon a week before with victory over a Parisien side who looked shaky against Lorient in a surprise 0-1 home defeat seven days earlier. The game wasn’t as one-sided as expected though, and in the days following the shock defeat to les Merlus Antoine Kombouare had obviously drilled his squad very well because they produced a much-improved showing. Salvatore Sirigu was the star of the show pulling off a string of fantastic saves and Kevin Gameiro netted on 70 minutes following a flowing team move involving fellow new signings Blaise Matuidi and Jeremy Menez to open his and PSG’s account for the season. Rennes were not to be denied though and new signing Jonathan Pitroipa capped a fantastic performance with an opportunist goal following a defensive mix-up in the capital club’s defence.
After the match Kombouare said: “I have mixed feelings. The first is disappointment, because we managed to take the lead, but with just two minutes left, we conceded. The second feeling is great satisfaction. We were solid, disciplined and played good football. We need to build on that.” His counterpart Frederic Antonetti was also left slightly disappointed: “It would have been really unfair had we lost as we deserved to win. It was an great match of Ligue 1 football between two sides who provided an excellent spectacle. The fact that PSG came here with a defensive line-up was already a small victory for us.”
Another fantastic advert for Ligue 1 football was the match between Auxerre and Marseille at the Stade de’l Abbe-Deschamps on Sunday. It was a real story of two halves as l’OM bossed the first 45 with a confident display thanks to goals from Loic Remy and Andre Ayew. However, AJA came out in the second half and stunned the visitors with a storming display as goals from Alain Traore and Roy Contout completed what was an improbably comeback at half-time.
Auxerre manager Laurent Fournier was delighted with his side’s fantastic comeback: “At half time, I told the lads that if we scored quickly, things could change, and that’s what happened. OM didn’t create many chances in the second half and I don’t know whether [Olivier] Sorin had any saves to make.” His opposite number Didier Deschamps however was raging: “It’s infuriating. We were 2-0 up away from home; you have to hold on to a lead like that. At half-time, I told the lads to stay focused and determined, especially in the first 15 minutes of the second half. I repeated this two or three times! We should have stayed in the dressing room.”
Lille’s performance was not much better than Marseille’s second half showing as last season’s champions slipped to an unexpected home defeat to Montpellier on Sunday night who now find themselves with maximum points after a tricky opening set of fixtures. Olivier Giroud scored the only goal of the game with what turned out to be one of la Paillade’s only chances and Rudi Garcia’s men were left to rue a string of missed opportunities as Moussa Sow failed to find the net for the second game running. That should not take away from the fact that Montpellier were fantastic defensively but Lille have so far lacked a cutting edge in their opening two matches and need to turn their dominance into goals fast.
Garcia said after the game: “Honestly, we gave a performance that should have won us the match. Montpellier did their job of defending and hitting us on the counter. It’s pretty tough to win matches if you don’t score.” Opposing manager Rene Girard however was full of praise for his players efforts: “We came here to do a job and we did it pretty well. We caused Lille a lot of trouble, to the point that they only played their natural game for short stretches. We were very solid in defence and the scenario was almost ideal.”
Lyon have fared better than their other title rivals in their opening two matches having registered a win over Nice on the opening weekend but they too were frustrated in round two; being held to a 1-1 home draw by Corsican minnows Ajaccio. New signing and Mexican international Guillermo Ochoa was in inspired form as he made a number of top-class saves. A resolute defensive effort from Olivier Pantaloni’s men saw them take a 60th minute lead through a deft Frederic Sammaritano finish. The hosts were not be denied by Ochoa though as seven minutes from time, Lisandro Lopez notched his second goal of the season with a powerful header.
New Lyon manager Remi Garde was disappointed with the result but managed to take a few positives from the performance: “There is some frustration and a bit of disappointment too. We played some good football and created chances right from the off. My lads got the minimum acceptable result from the evening and their performance pleased me.” Ajaccio’s manager however was ecstatic with his players’ efforts and the result: “I’m really proud that we came and took a point here in Lyon. We fought and defended as best we could – especially Ochoa, who had a huge match. We knew we would have very few chances, but we took it when it came. This result will give us a lot of confidence.”
Elsewhere in the league, Lorient followed up their fantastic opening day victory in Paris with a strong home showing against Bordeaux that they were unlucky not to win. Expected to struggle this season given the losses of Kevin Gameiro, Morgan Amalfitano and Jeremy Morel, les Merlus appear to have been galvanised by these key departures and they took an 82nd minute lead at Le Moustoir. They were pegged back by a late Henrique header as les Girondins snatched a 1-1 draw despite being down to ten men for the last 20 minutes after Gregory Sertic saw red. Another draw on Saturday saw Valenciennes and Brest scrap out a 0-0 stalemate in a game that produced few chances as the hosts inaugurated their new stadium-Stade du Hainaut.
Saint-Etienne continued their impressive start to the season with a home win over a stubborn Nancy side. ASSE won their first match 2-0 in Bordeaux – their first opening day victory in 20 years – and their good form continued here with a dominant, if inefficient, performance. The goal came late and from an unlikely source with defender Sylvain Marchal scoring only his eighth career goal and first for les Verts. After a summer of rebuilding Christophe Galtier has started to assemble a squad that looks capable of challenging for a European place on this form. Caen have surprised many people too with their strong start to the season. A 1-0 home victory over Valenciennes in week one was followed by a terrific 2-1 victory at Sochaux, last season’s surprise package. Goals from Romain Hamouma and Pierre-Alain Frau secured the points despite a last-gasp wonder strike from Liverpool target Ryad Boudebouz and means Caen find themselves at the top end of the early table for the second successive season.
Toulouse top the pile following two impressive showings despite a host of injury woes. Week one saw them earn a 2-0 victory in Corsica against Ajaccio and they followed that up with an efficient performance against new boys Dijon where they ran out 2-0 winners. Goals from Umut Bulut and Paulo Machado secured the points and ensures that le Tefece have given coach Alain Casanova plenty of reasons for optimism this season. Finally, other new boys Evian celebrated their first home match in Ligue 1 with a 1-0 win over Nice in Annecy. Saber Khalifa’s goal was enough to make sure of the points and following their impressive 2-2 draw with Brest on the opening day, the new boys will have plenty of confidence heading into their next match against fellow promoted side Ajaccio.
That completes what was eventually another fascinating week of Ligue 1 action and with managers still strengthening their sides ahead of the end of the transfer window, the league looks set to heat up even more over the next few weeks. With plenty of exciting football being played, newly-promoted sides throwing caution to the wind and a certain Javier Pastore set to make his home debut next weekend, the third round of French matches promises to be an exciting set of games.
Jonathan also writes the ‘Le Gossip’ column for skysports.com and is a member of the French Football Weekly team where he co-hosts the podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @Jon_LeGossip and can find his work on French football at French Football Weekly.
