Defending champion Bordeaux drew 0-0 at home with struggling
Boulogne on Saturday, allowing Montpellier to close the gap at the
top of the French league to six points after beating Marseille 2-0.
Lille moved within eight points of Bordeaux by defeating Lens
1-0.
Even though it entered the game boasting the best home record
in the league, Bordeaux was sluggish and Boulogne at times looked
the more threatening side. Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh had a
goal ruled offside in injury time, but Boulogne defender Habib
Bellaid could have won the match late on only to be denied by
goalkeeper Ulrich Rame.
Montpellier president Louis Nicollin had set coach Rene
Girard the target of reaching 40 points and staying up after the
club was promoted from the second division on the last day of last
season - but instead Girard's team was in contention at the other
end of the table for a place in next season's Champions League.
Cyril Jeunechamp crossed from the left and Karim Ait-Fana
controlled the ball brilliantly before taking it past Souleymane
Diawara and scoring with a fierce shot to open the scoring in the
48th minute.
Montpellier sealed the win when Marseille midfielder Benoit
Cheyrou scored an own goal in the 75th, heading in Alberto Costa's
corner past his own goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
Bordeaux leads with 48 points, Montpellier has 42, Lille 40,
Monaco 39 and Marseille 36.
Midfielder Eden Hazard scored Lille's only goal in the first
half, while winger Park Chu-young collected two goals to help
Monaco beat local rival Nice 3-2 and move into fourth place.
Nene added Monaco's other goal to take his league-leading
tally to 13 as he bids to get into Brazil's World Cup squad.
In a drab first half at Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux and
Boulogne struggled to create more than half-chances.
Bordeaux playmaker Yoann Gourcuff timed his run well to meet
Jaroslav Plasil's cross after 20 minutes but shot just wide, and
Boulogne winger Alexandre Cuvillier's shot from the edge of the
penalty area went just wide moments before the interval.
Rame did well to save Cuvillier's shot early in the second
half, and Plasil shot just over the crossbar.
In Saturday's other games, it was: Le Mans 1, Toulouse 3;
Nancy 1, Lorient 0; and Rennes 4, Grenoble 0.
Hazard put Lille ahead in the 22nd minute from Gervinho's
cross.
Park grabbed Monaco's first goal in the 18th minute when he
headed in Nene's corner for his fourth goal in two games. Chaouki
Ben Saada pulled a goal back for Nice early in the second half, but
Nene set up Park's eighth league goal of the season to make it 2-1
in the 60th and then scored himself shortly after with a superb
finish.
Midfielder Didier Digard scored his first since joining from
Middlesbrough to make it 3-2 at Stade Louis II.
Youssouf Hadji got Nancy's only goal against Lorient.
A goal each from Romain Danze and Sylvain Marveaux put Rennes
2-0 ahead at halftime.
Marveaux got another goal early in the second half and Ismael
Bangoura added a fourth after 56 minutes. Grenoble looks certain to
be relegated after winning only one league game and taking seven
points so far.
Boulogne remained in 19th place with 16 points.
Paulo Machado gave Toulouse the lead in the 51st after a good
run and cross from Daniel Braaten, and forward Andre-Pierre Gignac
scored for the first time in seven games to make it 2-0 in the
62nd.
Midfielder Idir Ouali pulled a goal back for Le Mans, but
Colin Kazim-Richards - recently signed from Turkish side Fenerbahce
- made it 3-1 late on.
On Sunday, it is Lyon vs. Paris Saint-Germain; Auxerre vs.
Saint-Etienne, and Valenciennes vs. Sochaux.
