Boulogne 1-3 Monaco
Bordeaux 3-0 Le Mans
Grenoble 1-2 Nancy
Nice 4-1 Lyon
Sochaux 1-0 Lorient
St Etienne 0-2 Valenciennes
Rennes 3-0 Montpellier
Lens 0-2 Toulouse
Auxerre 3-2 Lille
Marseille P-P PSG
Big news this week was of the game that didn't happen. Three players - Ludovic Giuly, Jeremy Clement and Mamadou Sakho - were all confirmed as having the virus and the entire squad and staff were quarantined as a precaution against further spread. The trouble was the timing of the postponement, way too late for the PSG fans to not travel. Trouble duly erupted between rival fans with nothing better to do than drag their clubs' name through the mud again.
On the field, Bordeaux regain top spot with a routine win over Le Mans. Didier Ovono put through his own net to put the champions in front, Marouane Chamakh and David Bellion with the others. That put them top as Lyon were stunned by lowly Nice. Mamadou Bagayoko's athletic header put Nice ahead. A howler from reserve keeper Remi Vercoutre allowed a ricochet off Aly Cissokho to squirm under his body for the second. David Hellebuyck made the defence look very slow as he charged right through them for number three and Loic Remy got the fourth, again thanks to some suspect goalkeeping. Dodgy keeping at the other end allowed Ederson a consolation, but the damage was done. Montpellier lost at Rennes and so failed to take advantage of OL's slip. Sylvain Marveaux put Rennes ahead in the first half and further strikes from Moussa Sow and Asamoah Gyan halted Montpellier's great run. Monaco it is that improve as they despatched ten-man Boulogne. Park Chu-Young put the Monagasques ahead with a good finish from the edge of the box shortly before Kevin Das Neves was sent off for a wild challenge. And yet it was Boulogne that got back into it with Jeremy Balyac given the freedom of the six-yard box from a corner. With time running out, that man Nene popped up with a double to win it and send his side second. Both were carbon-copy exquisite free-kicks. The keeper was rooted to the spot for both.
Grenoble lost again, and it's now getting silly. They took the lead against Nancy, completely against the run of play, through Danijel Ljuboja, and were hanging on in there as the game entered it's dying moments. But just as it looked like the duck may finally be broken, up stepped David Jemmali to rescue defeat from the jaws of victory as he headed comically over his own keeper and into the net for 1-1. A point would at least be a start, but Bostjan Cesar grabbed a handful of Issiar Dia's shirt in the 88th minute to give away a penalty which Youssuf Hadji slammed into the top corner. Sochaux's good run continues as the fans showed great support for the injured Curtis Davies. Eight minutes into the contest, Damien Perquis rose highest to head in from a free-kick and that was enough to beat Lorient. St Etienne reverted to type by slumping to another miserable defeat, at home to Valenciennes. Johan Audel embarrassed the defence for the first and David Ducourtioux added a second in the last minute, a quite excellent run and finish.
Toulouse are on the way back up the table and won well at Lens who are going the opposite direction. Moussa Sissoko and André-Pierre Gignac, back in form after a good spell with the national side, got the goals for Les Violets. Game of the week was at the Abbe-Deschamps where Auxerre twice came from behind to beat Lille whose revival is stopped in it's tracks. Gervinho put Lille in front with a lovely angled volley which Ireneusz Jelen equalised from close range. Pierre-Alain Frau restored the lead before the break, but Jelen again levelled it up before Daniel Niculae won it late on with a tidy near-post header.
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