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Eight matches of the 24th round of the French "Ligue 1" took place on Saturday, characterized by high-scoring - a total of 27 goals were scored. The championship leader "Lyon" increased their advantage over the pursuers by taking their first victory of the year and taking advantage of a dramatic failure by "Lille". Teams struggling at the bottom of the table, such as "P.S.G", "Valenciennes", and "Nice", achieved important victories.
Five-time French champions "Lyon" ended their five-match winless streak by defeating league leaders "Lorient". The first goal of the year was scored by Brazilian Fred with an impressive long-range shot.
"Lille", occupying the third position, had the chance to move up in the standings but suffered a dramatic defeat to the home team in Toulouse. An added time goal by Gregory Tafforeau sealed the victory for "Toulouse".
"Saint-Ettiene" also failed to take advantage, falling behind to "Auxerre" before equalizing through a goal by Matto Moussilou. Teams like "Rennes" and "Nancy" still have hopes of fighting for a place in the European tournament, as they also ended their match in a 1-1 draw.
"P.S.G" ended their winless streak with a victory over "Monaco". After taking the lead in the first half, they secured the win with two late goals in the second half from Marcelo Gallardo and Cristian Rodriguez.
"Sedan" suffered a 3-2 defeat against "Le Mans" in a tough match, while "Nice" secured a convincing 3-0 victory over "Troyes", moving up from the penultimate position in the table. "Nantes" couldn't keep up with "Valenciennes" in a high-scoring match, with the latter winning 5-2.
In the match between "Lyon" and "Lorient", the only goal of the game was scored by Fred in the 6th minute.
Match statistics of the 24th round on Saturday:
"P.S.G" 4 - 2 "Monaco" 5' [1 - 0] Amara Diane 35' [2 - 0] Flavio Roma (own goal) 50' [2 - 1] Frederic Piquionne 82' [3 - 1] Marcelo Gallardo 84' [4 - 1] Cristian Rodriguez 87' [4 - 2] Yan Koller 77' Frederic Piquionne ("Monaco") missed a penalty kick "Auxerre" 1 - 1 "Saint-Etienne" 19' [1 - 0] Kanga Akale 75' [1 - 1] Matt Moussilou "Toulouse" 1 - 0 "Lille" 90' Gregory Tafforeau (own goal) "Rennes" 1 - 1 "Nancy" 55' [0 - 1] Kim 85' [1 - 1] John Utaka
"Le Mans" 3 - 2 "Sedan" 13' [1 - 0] Mamadou Samassa 37' [1 - 1] Joseph Desire Job (penalty) 66' [2 - 1] Romaric 72' [3 - 1] Grafite 90' [3 - 2] Abdelnasser Ouadah 61' Mansour Boutabout ("Sedan") sent off "Nice" 3 - 0 "Troyes" 45' [1 - 0] Lilian Laslandes 56' [2 - 0] Lilian Laslandes 77' [3 - 0] Ederson "Nantes" 2 - 5 "Valenciennes" 19' [0 - 1] Steve Savidan 49' [0 - 2] Steve Savidan 72' [0 - 3] Steve Savidan 75' [0 - 4] Laurent Dufresne 78' [1 - 4] Claudiu Keseru 87' [2 - 4] Loic Guillon 88' [2 - 5] Steve Savidan 63' Dimitri Payet ("Nantes") sent off
