Ligue 1 Betting: More steely than vintage but Bordeaux march on

French Football / Ben Lyttleton / 08 March 2010 / Leave a Comment

Marouane Chamakh scored again this weekend

Ben Lyttleton talks us through the events of an extraordinary match in which Bordeaux drew with Montpellier on Sunday, two dropped points that the pursuing pack couldn't capitalise on....

The round of matches before a Champions League second-leg tie is often a good time to lay top teams and last weekend it was no different. Of the sides in European action this week, Porto, Fiorentina, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Lyon all dropped points and Real Madrid just avoided doing soafter a last-minute winner sealed an astonishing come-from-behind 3-2 win over Sevilla.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the Lyon result: after all, Lyon had rediscovered their form since the new year and went into their match at rock-bottom Boulogne with six wins from their last seven and the opportunity to put further pressure on leaders Bordeaux before their Sunday-night match against second-placed Montpellier. And though Hugo Lloris extended his run without conceding a goal to six games, Lyon's strikers drew a blank in their goalless draw.

That left the teams around them with the chance to take advantage, but none did so: Lille drew 1-1 at Saint-Etienne and Marseille drew 1-1 with Lorient. That left three points separating the top six sides before the top two Bordeaux and Montpellier went head-to-head in one of the most dramatic games of the Ligue 1 season.

The match burst into life after half an hour when Mikael Ciani, Bordeaux's superb centre-back who won his first France cap last week in the friendly against Spain, was sent off as the last man for bringing down Victor Montano. Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carasso saved Montano's resulting penalty. Ten minutes later, Mathieu Chalme was adjudged to have handled the ball and Montpellier got another penalty. This time Costa took it: he scored but it had to be retaken (quite reasonably, as one Montepellier player was level
with the spot) and Carasso kept out his second effort.

"At half-time, we admitted that we would be happy with a draw," conceded Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh, who had started the game alongside Fernando Cavenaghi in a Blanc's preferred 4-4-2 formation for home matches. Chamakh's strike on the hour, though, put Bordeaux firmly in control of the game, and the destiny of the title, until Carasso could only punch Costa's 94th-minute free-kick into the corner of his net. "From hero to zero!" roared L'Equipe of Carasso's performance. "He should be happy with his
performance, like all the players," said Blanc after the game. "It would have been great to win the game but when you analayse it, Montpellier could have won it and so we have to be satisfied."

It was almost the perfect weekend for Bordeaux: they came close to seeing off their closest challengers while playing with ten men for an hour, which is why France Football paid tribute to their mental strength: "This team always show great character in adversity." Just as significantly, Lyon and Marseille both drew games they should have won. Lyon, ([5.6]) for the title, have the toughest run-in as they have to play away matches at Bordeaux, Marseille and Montpellier while Bordeaux, ([1.5]), currently level with Montpellier, ([13.5]) and two clear of Lyon and three from Marseille, ([4.0]), have two games in hand ­ against Le Mans and Auxerre, whom they play this week.

Bordeaux are ([1.13]) to get past Olympiakos in their Champions League tie next
week and they have the small matter of a French League Cup final coming up against Marseille later this month. Their treble hopes are still on: but it is the flakiness of their Ligue 1 rivals as much as their own strength that should secure them a second straight domestic title.