[FR] Ligue 1 2005/06 (1 Viewer)
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New signing John Carew scored the winner as Lyon began their title defence with a 2-1 win over promoted Le Mans at the Stade Léon-Bollée on Sunday.
Lyon Coach Gérard Houllier was deprived of two of last season’s star midfielders in Michael Essien (gastro) and Juninho (unfit) but was still able to name 10 internationals in his starting line-up for the trip to Le Mans.
But it was last season’s Ligue 2 runners up that had the better of a cagey opening 30 minutes with summer arrival Ndri Romaric enjoying some uncustomary space afforded by Lyon’s unfamiliar midfield pairing of Mahamadou Diarra and Benoït Pedretti.
Le Mans’ best chance of the half came after a flowing team move down the right wing just after the half-hour. James Fanchone was played in behind Lyon left-back Jérémy Berthod, however he was unable to pick out a teammate with the resulting cross.
Lyon ‘keeper Grégory Coupet immediately found Anthony Reveillère on the right who was allowed to progress unhindered to the halfway line where he launched the ball forward to Sylvain Wiltord.
Wiltord controlled on the chest before unleashing an unstoppable drive past Yohan Pelé for the opening goal.
Le Mans came out from the break in aggressive fashion.
Romaric threaded the ball through to Japanese winger Daisuke Matsui inside the Lyon penalty area but Coupet was on hand to deny the hosts with a brilliant reflex save.
Le Mans were overriding Lyon in the midfield and the Romaric-Matsui combination struck again on 57 minutes to greater effect. Matsui was played into the inner left channel of the box, but this time he squared the ball for Brazilian Tulio De Melo to turn in his first goal in French football.
Unfortunately for Le Mans, the goal shocked Lyon into an immediate reply.
A superb raking diagonal ball from Diarra picked out Sidney Govou wide on the right. His powerfully volleyed cross found the in-form Norwegian striker John Carew who out-muscled his marker to plant a firm header past Pelé.
Houllier then reverted to last season’s familiar 4-3-3 formation with Wiltord making way for defensive midfielder Ludovic Clément and Pierre-Alain Frau replacing Govou on the right wing.
In the final stages Lyon’s physical superiority showed and Claudio Caçapa’s men finally ran out relatively comfortable winners.
Lyon Coach Gérard Houllier was deprived of two of last season’s star midfielders in Michael Essien (gastro) and Juninho (unfit) but was still able to name 10 internationals in his starting line-up for the trip to Le Mans.
But it was last season’s Ligue 2 runners up that had the better of a cagey opening 30 minutes with summer arrival Ndri Romaric enjoying some uncustomary space afforded by Lyon’s unfamiliar midfield pairing of Mahamadou Diarra and Benoït Pedretti.
Le Mans’ best chance of the half came after a flowing team move down the right wing just after the half-hour. James Fanchone was played in behind Lyon left-back Jérémy Berthod, however he was unable to pick out a teammate with the resulting cross.
Lyon ‘keeper Grégory Coupet immediately found Anthony Reveillère on the right who was allowed to progress unhindered to the halfway line where he launched the ball forward to Sylvain Wiltord.
Wiltord controlled on the chest before unleashing an unstoppable drive past Yohan Pelé for the opening goal.
Le Mans came out from the break in aggressive fashion.
Romaric threaded the ball through to Japanese winger Daisuke Matsui inside the Lyon penalty area but Coupet was on hand to deny the hosts with a brilliant reflex save.
Le Mans were overriding Lyon in the midfield and the Romaric-Matsui combination struck again on 57 minutes to greater effect. Matsui was played into the inner left channel of the box, but this time he squared the ball for Brazilian Tulio De Melo to turn in his first goal in French football.
Unfortunately for Le Mans, the goal shocked Lyon into an immediate reply.
A superb raking diagonal ball from Diarra picked out Sidney Govou wide on the right. His powerfully volleyed cross found the in-form Norwegian striker John Carew who out-muscled his marker to plant a firm header past Pelé.
Houllier then reverted to last season’s familiar 4-3-3 formation with Wiltord making way for defensive midfielder Ludovic Clément and Pierre-Alain Frau replacing Govou on the right wing.
In the final stages Lyon’s physical superiority showed and Claudio Caçapa’s men finally ran out relatively comfortable winners.
Man U back in for Essien
Sunday 31 July, 2005
Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas sensationally revealed on Sunday that Manchester United are back in the hunt to sign Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien.
Interviewed on French television station Canal Plus after his side’s opening day 2-1 win over Le Mans, Aulas revealed that English champions Chelsea are not the only team still chasing last season’s Ligue 1 Player of the Year.
"We can still find a compromise so that he only leaves next year.
"Chelsea will have to show themselves to be very persuasive for us to let him leave.
"Manchester United want him just as much."
But in a separate interview later that same evening Aulas hinted that Chelsea's London rivals Arsenal may be eyeing Essien as a replacement for Patrick Vieira.
"This Essien story does not weary me. Perhaps it will be solved on September 1 and not on July 31." said Aulas.
"I have more resistance than some people have imagined.
"The more Chelsea will wait, the more they will be put in difficulty, not just compared to Lyon, but also compared to another English club which has just lost a defensive midfielder."
www.channel4.com/sport/french_football
Sunday 31 July, 2005
Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas sensationally revealed on Sunday that Manchester United are back in the hunt to sign Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien.
Interviewed on French television station Canal Plus after his side’s opening day 2-1 win over Le Mans, Aulas revealed that English champions Chelsea are not the only team still chasing last season’s Ligue 1 Player of the Year.
"We can still find a compromise so that he only leaves next year.
"Chelsea will have to show themselves to be very persuasive for us to let him leave.
"Manchester United want him just as much."
But in a separate interview later that same evening Aulas hinted that Chelsea's London rivals Arsenal may be eyeing Essien as a replacement for Patrick Vieira.
"This Essien story does not weary me. Perhaps it will be solved on September 1 and not on July 31." said Aulas.
"I have more resistance than some people have imagined.
"The more Chelsea will wait, the more they will be put in difficulty, not just compared to Lyon, but also compared to another English club which has just lost a defensive midfielder."
www.channel4.com/sport/french_football
Marseille have confirmed that they are set to sign Bobo Balde from Celtic on Monday.
The Guinean international looks to be out of favour under new Bhoys chief Gordon Strachan and he is now letting him leave Parkhead.
Balde has been with Celtic since 2001 when Martin O'Neill snapped him up from Toulouse.
The giant central defender is a cult figure and he snubbed summer moves to Middlesbrough and Birmingham to stay with Celtic, but that was before O'Neill quit as coach.
Marseille have moved for Balde ahead of Serbian striker Danijel Ljuboja after deciding that they need their defence bolstering rather than their forward line.
l'OM sporting director Jose Anigo confirmed the deal was almost done.
"Sure with Blade, that should be done," said Anigo.
"I have seldom seen somebody who has expressed such a desire to join us.
"He knows the club and is ready to leave a strong contract in Glasgow to come to Marseille.
"He has a strong personality and has all the essential qualities of a good defender."
The Guinean international looks to be out of favour under new Bhoys chief Gordon Strachan and he is now letting him leave Parkhead.
Balde has been with Celtic since 2001 when Martin O'Neill snapped him up from Toulouse.
The giant central defender is a cult figure and he snubbed summer moves to Middlesbrough and Birmingham to stay with Celtic, but that was before O'Neill quit as coach.
Marseille have moved for Balde ahead of Serbian striker Danijel Ljuboja after deciding that they need their defence bolstering rather than their forward line.
l'OM sporting director Jose Anigo confirmed the deal was almost done.
"Sure with Blade, that should be done," said Anigo.
"I have seldom seen somebody who has expressed such a desire to join us.
"He knows the club and is ready to leave a strong contract in Glasgow to come to Marseille.
"He has a strong personality and has all the essential qualities of a good defender."
Lyon moved top of Ligue 1 with a last-gasp 1-0 win over struggling Nancy at Stade Gerland.
The reigning champions were forced to wait until the 90 minute until they grabbed the winner with Claudio Cacapa finally breaking down the resolute Nancy defence.
Lens moved into second spot with a thumping 7-0 victory over Auxerre to inflict a first defeat of the season on Jacques Santini's men.
The home side opened the scoring on 11 minutes with Daniel Cousin finding the net and Olivier Thomert doubled the lead four minutes later.
Thomert made it 3-0 before half time with his second goal of the contest.
Cousin completed his brace on 56 minutes and Ferreyra Jussie got into the act with the fifth on 67 minutes.
Yohan Demont notched a sixth on 72 minutes and Jussie completed the rout with his second two minutes later.
Rennes climbed off the bottom of the table with a thrilling 3-2 win over Marseille.
Marseille got off to a dream start with Mamadou Niang finding the net in the very first minute.
The lead proved short-lived with John Utaka levelling up matters seven minutes later.
Sabri Lamouchi restored Marseille's lead just after the half hour mark, but again Rennes hit back to draw level with a goal from Alexander Frei six minutes before half time.
Swedish international Kim Kallstrom grabbed the winner for Rennes on 55 minutes to give them their first victory of the campaign.
Nantes continued their good start to the season with a 1-1 draw at Nice.
Mamadou Bagayoko gave Nice the lead after just seven minutes, but Emerse Fae drew Nantes level straight after the break.
Nantes were forced to hold on for the point after Mauro Cetto was sent off four minutes from time for serious foul play.
Ajaccio and Le Mans could not be separated at Francois-Coty with the game ending in a goalless draw.
Struggling duo Metz and Strasbourg are still looking for their first wins after a goalless draw between the two sides.
Lille earned a point from their trip to Sochaux with the game ending goalless.
Bordeaux continued their impressive start to the season with a 1-0 win over Monaco.
Loan signing from Liverpool Bruno Cheyrou netted the all-important winning goal for Bordeaux in the second half.
Cheyrou broke the deadlock for Bordeaux on 57 minutes and it proved to be enough to give the home side all three points.
The result was not the best preparation for Monaco ahead of their UEFA Champions League qualifier with Real Betis next week.
The reigning champions were forced to wait until the 90 minute until they grabbed the winner with Claudio Cacapa finally breaking down the resolute Nancy defence.
Lens moved into second spot with a thumping 7-0 victory over Auxerre to inflict a first defeat of the season on Jacques Santini's men.
The home side opened the scoring on 11 minutes with Daniel Cousin finding the net and Olivier Thomert doubled the lead four minutes later.
Thomert made it 3-0 before half time with his second goal of the contest.
Cousin completed his brace on 56 minutes and Ferreyra Jussie got into the act with the fifth on 67 minutes.
Yohan Demont notched a sixth on 72 minutes and Jussie completed the rout with his second two minutes later.
Rennes climbed off the bottom of the table with a thrilling 3-2 win over Marseille.
Marseille got off to a dream start with Mamadou Niang finding the net in the very first minute.
The lead proved short-lived with John Utaka levelling up matters seven minutes later.
Sabri Lamouchi restored Marseille's lead just after the half hour mark, but again Rennes hit back to draw level with a goal from Alexander Frei six minutes before half time.
Swedish international Kim Kallstrom grabbed the winner for Rennes on 55 minutes to give them their first victory of the campaign.
Nantes continued their good start to the season with a 1-1 draw at Nice.
Mamadou Bagayoko gave Nice the lead after just seven minutes, but Emerse Fae drew Nantes level straight after the break.
Nantes were forced to hold on for the point after Mauro Cetto was sent off four minutes from time for serious foul play.
Ajaccio and Le Mans could not be separated at Francois-Coty with the game ending in a goalless draw.
Struggling duo Metz and Strasbourg are still looking for their first wins after a goalless draw between the two sides.
Lille earned a point from their trip to Sochaux with the game ending goalless.
Bordeaux continued their impressive start to the season with a 1-0 win over Monaco.
Loan signing from Liverpool Bruno Cheyrou netted the all-important winning goal for Bordeaux in the second half.
Cheyrou broke the deadlock for Bordeaux on 57 minutes and it proved to be enough to give the home side all three points.
The result was not the best preparation for Monaco ahead of their UEFA Champions League qualifier with Real Betis next week.
Marseille have landed Lorik Cana from Paris Saint Germain, while they have allowed Laurent Batlles to rejoin Toulouse.
Albania international Cana had been hoping to leave PSG due to his concerns over his first-team opportunities.
PSG initially suggested Marseille would be unable to afford Cana, while they were also reluctant to sell the midfielder to one of their fiercest competitors.
But l'OM have come up with a suitably tempting proposition, with Cana signing a contract, for either three or four years, at Stade Velodrome.
Marseille are aiming to follow up the capture of Cana by bringing Christian Gimenez to France from Swiss side Basel.
The Argentinian striker was left out of Basel's team for their UEFA Champions League qualifier with Werder Bremen on Wednesday as a result of Marseille's offer.
Gimenez will undergo a medical with l'OM on Thursday before penning a two-year contract after he shunned a move to Nancy.
With two players arriving at Stade Velodrome, Marseille have sanctioned the exit of Batlles, with the schemer returning to Toulouse.
Batlles joined Marseille two years ago but has now signed a three-year deal with Toulouse after a mixed spell on the South Coast.
Albania international Cana had been hoping to leave PSG due to his concerns over his first-team opportunities.
PSG initially suggested Marseille would be unable to afford Cana, while they were also reluctant to sell the midfielder to one of their fiercest competitors.
But l'OM have come up with a suitably tempting proposition, with Cana signing a contract, for either three or four years, at Stade Velodrome.
Marseille are aiming to follow up the capture of Cana by bringing Christian Gimenez to France from Swiss side Basel.
The Argentinian striker was left out of Basel's team for their UEFA Champions League qualifier with Werder Bremen on Wednesday as a result of Marseille's offer.
Gimenez will undergo a medical with l'OM on Thursday before penning a two-year contract after he shunned a move to Nancy.
With two players arriving at Stade Velodrome, Marseille have sanctioned the exit of Batlles, with the schemer returning to Toulouse.
Batlles joined Marseille two years ago but has now signed a three-year deal with Toulouse after a mixed spell on the South Coast.