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On Saturday, five matches of the French football championship "Ligue 1" 4th round were played. The impressive victory with a crushing score of 4-1 was achieved by the "Lyon" club by defeating the multiple French champions "Nice" footballers.
Five-time French champions "Nice" footballers took the lead in the 27th minute of the match when Marama Vahirua managed to break through the opponent's defense and score a goal.
However, in the 49th minute, French national team defender Florent Malouda equalized the score after a pass from Portuguese midfielder Tiago.
In the 69th minute of the match, young "Lyon" forward Karim Benzema was sent onto the field, and within a minute of his appearance, assisted by F. Malouda, he increased the score in favor of his team. Just 5 minutes later, Tiago further increased the score with a goal after a perfectly played pass from F. Malouda.
As the match was coming to an end, in the 90th minute after a handball by Anthier Yahia, an 11-meter penalty was awarded to "Nice", which was successfully converted by young Karim Benzema, securing the decisive points in this match.
"We were too relaxed in the first half, thinking that we could achieve victory without much effort, but after the break, we managed to concentrate and make a bigger impact on attacking the opponents' goal," - said "Lyon" head coach Gerard Houllier after the match.
After four rounds played, the "Lyon" team has four points in their account and currently holds the top spot in the league table.
Another setback in the championship was experienced by the P.S.G. club from Paris, which played very inconsistently last season. This time, Parisians had to admit defeat to the "Sochaux" team after a tough battle with a score of 3-2. After Karim Ziani and Badara Sene scored for "Sochaux" to lead 2-0, the capital team managed to equalize the score thanks to two goals from Pedro Pauleta. However, in the 82nd minute, Karim Ziani successfully converted an 11-meter penalty into the "P.S.G" goal, securing victory for his team.
Continuing their successful season, the "Lille" club also had a great victory by crushing last season's runner-up and one of the main contenders for this season's champion title, the "Bordeaux" team, with a score of 3-0. The scorers for the winners were Yohan Cabaye, Mathieu Bodmer, and Peter Odemwingie.
Another unexpected victory on Saturday was achieved by newcomer "Lorient", easily beating the "Nantes" team 3-1. Pierre-Andre Gignac scored all three goals for the "Lorient" team in the first half, while Frederic Da Rocha equalized the score for "Nantes" in the 13th minute.
Results of Saturday's matches:
1 - 4 27' [1-0] Marama Vahirua 49' [1-1] Florent Malouda 69' [1-2] Karim Benzema 74' [1-3] Tiago 90' [1-4] Karim Benzema (penalty)
3 - 2 30` [1 - 0] Karim Ziani 36` [2 - 0] Badara Sene 71` [2 - 1] Pedro Pauleta 75` [2 - 2] Pedro Pauleta 82` [3 - 2] Karim Ziani (from penalty)
1 - 2 20` [0 - 1] Laurent Battles 57` [0 - 2] Achille Emana 68` [1 - 2] Benjamin Nivet
3 - 1 6` [1 - 0] Pierre-Andre Gignac 13` [1 - 1] Frederic Da Rocha 16` [2 - 1] Pierre-Andre Gignac 28` [3 - 1] Pierre-Andre Gignac
79` Mauro Cetto ("Nantes") was sent off
3 - 0 27` [1 - 0] Yohan Cabaye 42` [2 - 0] Mathieu Bodmer 59` [3 - 0] Peter Odemwingie
League table:
