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On Saturday, seven matches of the 33rd round of the French "Ligue 1" championship were played. With only five rounds left until the end of the championship, Lyon took another step towards the fifth consecutive "Ligue 1" champions title by securing a victory.
In this round, the leaders of the championship faced a tough challenge from Troyes, who are fighting to remain in "Ligue 1". The only goal of the match was scored in the 76th minute by Tiago, a legionnaire from Portugal. After this victory, Lyon temporarily increased their lead over Bordeaux, who are in second place, to 12 points. However, Bordeaux will face a tough match with P.S.G on Sunday.
The central match of the round took place on Saturday at the Lille Stade Grimonprez Jooris stadium, where Lille and Auxerre competed for the third place in the table. The hosts took the lead in the match when Peter Odemwingie scored a goal in the 22nd minute. However, just 6 minutes later, Auxerre managed to equalize the score with a goal from Pegguy Luyindula in the 28th minute. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, maintaining Lille in third place and pushing Auxerre down to fifth.
Making use of Auxerre's two lost points, Lens climbed to fourth place by defeating the bottom-placed Metz with a difficult 0-1 win. The only goal of the match was scored by Pirre-Alain Frau in the 26th minute.
After this weekend's matches, Lens and Auxerre are tied in points in the battle for positions in the next season's UEFA competitions. Marseille also joined the fight for places by securing an important 1-3 victory over Nantes on Saturday.
The struggling Monaco club, currently going through a rough season, could only manage a 1-1 draw with Saint-Etienne on Saturday, losing two more points. It is worth mentioning that Javier Chevanton scored a goal for Monaco. After this draw, Monaco occupies the 11th place in the tournament table.
An important victory was also achieved by Sochaux, who lifted themselves slightly off the bottom of the table to 16th place by defeating Ajaccio 3-1 at home. They now have a 9-point advantage over Strasbourg in 18th place, who also suffered a defeat to Nice with the same result in this round.
Results of the 33rd round:
- 1-1
22` [1 - 0] Peter Odemwingie
28` [1 - 1] Pegguy Luyindula - 0-1
76` [0 - 1] Tiago - 0-1
26` [0 - 1] Pierre-Alain Frau (from 11m.) - Benoit Assou-Ekotto ("Lens") sent off at 65`
- 1-3
22` [0 - 1] Mamadou Niang
52` [0 - 2] Toifilou Maoulida
53` [1 - 2] Oliech
72` [1 - 3] Mamadou Niang - 3-1
61` [1 - 0] Floraint Jarjat
62` [2 - 0] Mamadou Bagayoko
73` [2 - 1] Pascal Johansen (from 11m.)
90` [3 - 1] Sammy Traore - 3-1
17` [1 - 0] Guirane N`Daw
27` [2 - 0] Moumouni Dagano
63` [2 - 1] De Faria Edson
90` [3 - 1] Weldon - 1-1
56` [0 - 1] Ernesto Javier Chevanton
82` [1 - 1] Bafetibis Gomis
Top goal scorers:
(Position, player, goals)
- 1. Pedro Pauleta ("P.S.G") 17
- 2. Daniel Cousin ("Lens") 12
- 3. Sylvain Wiltord ("Lyon") 11
- 4-6. John Utaka ("Rennes")10
Araujo Ilan ("Sochaux") 10
Peguy Luyindula ("Auxerre") 10 - 7-8.Luigi Pieroni ("Auxerre") 9
Peter Odemwingie ("Lille") 9 - 9. Fred ("Lyon") 8
- 10. Vincius De Melo ("Le Mans") 7
Tournament table:
