The Championelle race is still wide open after Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 1-1 draw against Auxerre as Montpellier suffered a defeat at the hands of FC Lorient who are not out of the woods yet
The race for the 2011/2012 Ligue 1 Championelle is far from over after relegation-threatened http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Lorient-c39153 beat Montpellier Herault 2-1.
Olivier Giroud scored his 20th Ligue 1 goal of the campaign against Christian Gourcuff’s men but it was not enough for his side to escape from defeat. Earlier on, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Joel-Campbell-c18716 doubled Merlus’ advantage.
12 minutes from time, Olivier Giroud pulled one back for the visitors but it was not to be Montpellier’s day as they eventually lost the game 2-1.
In the last 5 league encounters between the two sides, Montpellier had never lost to Lorient and it looked as if things won’t change when Remy Cabella’s header missed the goal only narrowly.
Though Lorient are clear relegation candidates, Gourcuff’s men played good football in the early stages of the game. Kevin Monnet-Paquet twice tested http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Geoffrey-Jourdren-c14538.
However, Montpellier slowly started stamping their authority as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Utaka-c18898 and then Cabella tested Lorient goal.
However, Lorient were not to be denied of a goal for long. Joel Campbell passed a great opportunity towards Jeremie Aliadiere. The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arnaud-Le-Lan-c6614 cross found Bedimo whose unfortunate touch guided the ball into the goal. This was Lorient’s first L1 goal in 300 minutes.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Garry-Bocaly-c14429 and Cabella both came close to pulling one back for the visitors.
However, it was Olivier Giroud who pulled one back for his team as he expertly side-footed a Cabella cross.
Despite conceding a goal, Lorient pressed on to increase their advantage. Aliadiere struck the post and in the end, the score remained 2-1 as Lorient got the three points they needed to move away from the relegation zone.
PSG fail to capitalise
Montpellier’s defeat meant that PSG had a great chance to get back to touching distance of Rene Girard’s men. Carlo Ancelotti’s men travelled to Burgundy to face Auxerre in the last game of this week.
Just an hour before kick-off, an over-confident Milan Bisevac tweeted “Thank you Lorient”. however, the defender was to be left eating his own words as his side were held to a 1-1 draw against Auxerre.
Nene gave the visitors a perfect start to the game thanks to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kevin-Gameiro-c20721’s excellent pass. The Brazilian simply waltzed his way past two defenders before firing home his 14th goal of the campaign. Nene has now scored five goals against Auxerre in six games.
The first period was totally dominated by PSG as Auxerre struggle to set up a single scoring opportunity.
However, things changed after the break. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kamel-Chafni-c20261 scored Auxerre’s winning goal against PSG last season and the Moroccan international was enjoying the game as he came close to score again. His attempt in the 53rd minute hit the post.
However, the former Ajaccio man inspired his side to keep the pressure on PSG defence.
For their unwavering confidence, Auxerre deserved to score a goal and it was in the 87th minute when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Anthony-Le-Tallec-c6218 took advantage of a goalmouth scramble to nod home the equaliser.
The score remained 1-1 until the final whistle and despite their character, the Burgundy side remains destined for relegation.
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