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Over the weekend in the 32nd round of the French "Ligue 1" football championship, defending champions "Lyon" lost another two points in the match, maintaining a slight intrigue in the battle for the top spot, while climbing higher on the table is the "Rennes" club.
On Saturday, "Lyon" failed to defeat the bottom-ranked "Toulouse" club on their home field. The Toulouse players took the lead when Daniel Moreira scored at the end of the first half. However, just at the beginning of the second half, "Lyon" equalized with a goal by John Carew, but that was all the champions could demonstrate - the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Continuing to climb up the table is the "Rennes" club, which has been struggling this season but has been gaining one victory after another recently. This time, the Rennes players defeated "Troyes" 2-0 at home and currently occupy the 5th place with 50 points, trailing just three points behind the 3rd place which would give them the chance to compete in the Champions League, held by the "Lille" club.
In this round, "Lille" failed to defeat the underdog "Strasbourg" and only managed to draw 2-2, dropping important two points. It is worth mentioning that "Strasbourg" player Amara Diane equalized the score in added time.
The second-placed "Bordeaux" club took advantage of this stumble by "Lille" club to increase their lead to 7 points by defeating "Nice" 1-0 at home thanks to a goal by Denilson in the first minute. However, "Bordeaux", as well as "Lyon" with 9 points behind them, have played fewer matches than their closest pursuers.
In this round, both "Auxerre" and "Marseille" teams, who are also fighting for a place in the next season's UEFA tournaments, lost two points. "Auxerre" played with a goalless draw against "Saint-Etienne", who have been showing poor form recently, while "Marseille" was unable to defeat "Le Mans" and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The central match of the round took place on Sunday in Monaco, where the struggling "Monaco" and Paris "P.S.G" teams faced off. The "P.S.G" players took the lead in the 16th minute when Paulo Cesar scored. However, in the beginning of the second half, "Monaco" managed to equalize the score after Ernesto Chevanton's goal.
The important victory over the weekend was achieved by "Metz", who are fighting for survival in "Ligue 1". The "Metz" players managed to defeat the absolute bottom-ranked "Ajaccio" 1-0 away and are now just three points behind the 17th place which guarantees survival in the top French football division, held by the "Troyes" club.
Results of the 32nd round:
1 - 1 44' [0 - 1] Daniel Moreira 49' [1 - 1] John Carew
1 - 1 22' [1 - 0] Toifilou Maoulida 34' [1 - 1] James Fanchone
2 - 1 21' [1 - 0] Seydou Keita 35' [2 - 0] Pierre-Alain Frau 71' [2 - 1] Araujo Ilan
0 - 0
2 - 2 9' [0 - 1] Kader Keita 30' [1 - 1] Pintus Farnerud 79' [1 - 2] Kader Keita 90' [2 - 2] Amara Diane
0 - 1 71' [0 - 1] Abdelnasser Ouadah
2 - 0 24' [1 - 0] John Utaka 52' [2 - 0] John Mensah
0 - 0
1 - 0 1' [1 - 0] Denilson
1 - 1 16' [0 - 1] Paulo Cesar 52' [1 - 1] Javier Ernesto Chevanton
Top scorers: (Position, player, goals)
1. Pedro Pauleta ("P.S.G") 17 2. Daniel Cousin ("Lens") 12 3. Sylvain Wiltord ("Lyon") 11 4-5. John Utaka ("Rennes")10 Araujo Ilan ("Sochaux") 10 6-7. Peguy Luyindula ("Auxerre") 9 Luigi Pieroni ("Auxerre") 9 8-9. Fred ("Lyon") 8 Peter Odemwingie ("Lille") 8 10. Vincius De Melo ("Le Mans") 7
