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After the nine matches played on Saturday in the French "Ligue 1" championship, the "Toulouse" team climbed to the leaders' position. The one remaining match of the fifth round will be played on Sunday.
"Toulouse" team's rise to the first place in the championship was helped not only by an easy victory against "Ajaccio" with a score of 3-1, but also by the unexpected failures of their competitors. The favorites "Auxerre" and "Lens" lost to weaker opponents, while "Metz" played a goalless draw with "Bordeaux".
The opportunity to take the first position was also available to the defending champions "Lyon", but the champions team only managed to beat "Rennes" 2-1 and stayed in second place due to worse goal difference ratio. It is worth mentioning that both goals in the game were scored in the last minutes by the young Brazilian forward Nilmar playing his first match for the team.
Another debutant in "Ligue 1" who managed to make an impression in his debut match is the new "Monaco" player Javier Saviola. In the 84th minute, he sent the ball into the "Strasbourg" goal and helped his team secure an easy 3-1 victory.
Paris "P.S.G" club continues to struggle. Playing away against the league debutant "Istres", the capital team conceded a goal in the second minute and could only equalize the score until the end of the match. This was done in the 60th minute by Pedro Pauleta, scoring from an 11-meter penalty shot. Prior to that, "P.S.G" also failed to beat the other two league debutants "Caen" and "Saint-Etienne".
These clubs continue to be stubborn in the face of "Ligue 1" veterans and gather points by playing against stronger opponents. "Caen" defeated "Lens" by 1-0, a team that played in the UEFA Champions League a few seasons ago, and "Saint-Etienne" managed to hold a goalless draw against "Nantes". So, "Saint-Etienne" now has 3 points in their account (as much as "P.S.G" - editor's note), while "Caen" has 8 points.
Edgar Jankauskas' "Nice" lost to "Lille" 1-0 after conceding a goal in the final minute. The Lithuanian national team striker was not registered for this match as he felt pain in his thigh just before the game.
On Sunday, "Marseille" and "Sochaux" will test their strengths in the last matches of the round. For "Marseille", it will be a great opportunity to recover from the setback suffered in the previous round, when one of the favorites to win "Ligue 1" had to admit the superiority of "Metz" with a score of 1-3.
League table
Results of the fifth round:
1 - 0
32' Yahia
1 - 0
56' Mazure
1 - 1
2' (1 - 0) Saifi
60' (1 - 1) Pauleta (from 11m)
1 - 0
93' Brunel
0 - 0
3 - 1
3' (1 - 0) Adebayor
41' (1 - 1) Pagis
55' (2 - 1) Kallon (from 11m)
84' (3 - 1) Saviola
0 - 0
3 - 1
9' (1 - 0) Taider
22' (1 - 1) Surcin
85' (2 - 1) Silva
88' (3 - 1) Arribage
1 - 2
80' (0 - 1) Nilmar
87' (0 - 2) Nilmar
90' (1 - 2) Cearense
