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On Wednesday, the ninth round matches of the French "Ligue 1" championship were played. The last round match between "Lyon" and "Lens" will take place on Thursday evening.
Another failure this season was experienced by the famous "Marseille" club, losing 1-0 away to "Toulouse". Even the fact that "Toulouse" had to play with ten men from the 21st minute did not help the visiting team, as Dominique Arribage of this team was sent off the field for rough play. It is worth mentioning that before that "Marseille" had come out of the crisis by winning two consecutive games.
Another victory in the league was achieved by the "Monaco" club, which changed coaches this week. The principality team defeated the newcomer "Troyes" with a score of 1-2 after an intense battle. It is worth mentioning that "Monaco" secured the victory even with two players - Eric Cubilier and Gerardo - sent off the field. After this victory, the Monaco team climbed from 14th to 12th place in the standings.
Capital team "P.S.G." at least temporarily reduced the gap from the leader “Lyon” to a minimum by defeating the lately successful “Lille” club 2-1 thanks to two goals from Pedro Pauleta. Currently, Pauleta leads the list of the most productive players in "Ligue 1" with 6 goals.
The opportunity to temporarily get closer to the leader was not taken by the "Le Mans" and "Saint-Etienne" clubs, which were in second and third place respectively, as they suffered unexpected defeats. The former lost 1-0 away to "Nice", while the latter had to admit the superiority of another newcomer "Nancy" with a 0-2 score at home.
Another victory was achieved by the recently improving "Auxerre" team. This time, Auxerre defeated the "Metz" club 1-2 away. Auxerre took the lead in the 35th minute when Jean-Pascal Mignot scored. At the end of the match in the 89th minute, Pegguy Luyindula doubled the score. Although Metz managed to reduce the difference to one goal in the 90th minute, they ran out of time to do more and salvage the match.
League Table
All 8th round results:
1 - 0 11' [1 - 0] Bryan Bergougnoux
21' Dominique Arribage (Toulouse) sent off
1 - 2 25' [0 - 1] Jean-Pascal Mignot 89' [0 - 2] Pegguy Luyindula 90' [1 - 2] Momar N'Diaye
1 - 0 21' [1 - 0] Mamadou Bagayoko
0 - 0
0 - 2 33' [0 - 1] Cedric Lecluse 67' [0 - 2] Adrian Sarkissian
1 - 0 52' [1 - 0] Moumouni Dagano
2 - 2 4' [0 - 1] Vladimir Šmicer 28' [1 - 1] Kim Kallstrom 51' [1 - 2] Marouane Chamakh 60' [2 - 2] Olivier Monterrubio
1 - 2 33' [1 - 0] Sebastien Grax 56' [1 - 1] Emmanuel Adebayor 78' [1 - 2] Gael Givet
56' Eric Cubilier (Monaco) sent off 68' Gerard (Monaco) sent off
2 - 1 5' [0 - 1] Nicolas Fauvergue 14' [1 - 1] Pedro Pauleta 55' [2 - 1] Pedro Pauleta
1. Pedro Pauleta (Paris Saint Germain) 6 2-3. Vinicius De Melo (Le Mans) 4 Frederic Piquione (Saint-Etienne) 4 4-10. Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux) 3 Daniel Cousin (Lens) 3 Jean Makoun (Lille) 3 Peter Odemwingie (Lille) 3 John Carew (Lyon) 3 Elie Kroupi (Nancy) 3 Mamadou Diallo (Nantes) 3
