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Over the weekend, the 25th round matches of the French "Ligue 1" championship were played. The leading "Lyon" club secured their second consecutive victory and returned firmly to the path of victories in the championship.
The Lyon team traveled on Friday to face "Lille" who are competing for a spot in European tournaments, and after a fierce battle, they won with a score of 2-1. "Lille" players scored the first goal in this match when Johann Audel scored in the 52nd minute, and they managed to maintain the lead almost until the end of the match, but it was not enough to secure the victory. In the 83rd minute of the match, Lyon's Brazilian forward Fred scored a precise shot to beat the opponents' goalkeeper, equalizing the match, and just a minute before the end of the match, France's national team defender Sebastien Squillaci sent the second ball into Lille's goal to secure victory for his team.
Finally finding their game, Paris' "P.S.G" club defeated the middle-ranking "Nancy" team confidently with a score of 0-3 in this round. This time, Paul Le Guen's players scored their first goal in the 71st minute when Pedro Pauleta scored, and the remaining two goals into Nancy's goal came in the final moments of the match.
In the 4th place in the standings after this round is the "Sochaux" club, who defeated the "Le Mans" team at home with a score of 2-0. Sochaux took the lead in the 13th minute when Alvaro Santos successfully converted an eleven-meter penalty into Le Mans' goal. The final point in this match was contributed by Le Mans' player Hassan Yebda, who scored an own goal in the 78th minute, burying his team's hopes of earning at least one point.
An interesting and productive match took place in Saint-Etienne, where the local "Saint-Etienne" hosted the "Rennes" club and lost with a score of 1-3. The visitors took the lead in the 13th minute when John Utaka scored a precise shot. In the 34th minute, "Saint-Etienne" managed to equalize the score after a precise shot by the young Batefimi Gomis, but that was all the hosts could create in this match. In the second half, after about 15 minutes of play, the same John Utaka, left alone against the goalkeeper, scored his second goal of the day with a great shot, and just two minutes later, after his precise pass and goalkeeper Jerome Janot's mistake, Sylvain Marveaux scored the third goal for "Rennes," securing their team's advantage.
Results of the 25th round:
1 - 2
52` [1 - 0] Johan Audel
83` [1 - 1] Fred
89` [1 - 2] Sebastien Squillaci
1 - 3
16` [0 - 1] John Utaka
34` [1 - 1] Batefimi Gomis
59` [1 - 2] John Utaka
61` [1 - 3] Sylvain Marveaux
0 - 1
54` [0 - 1] Paulo Cesar (from 11m.)
2 - 0
13` [1 - 0] Alvaro Santos (from 11m.)
78` [2 - 0] Hassan Yebda (own goal)
1 - 0
67` [1 - 0] David Gigliotti
0 - 1
30` [0 - 1] Bakary Kone (from 11m.)
2 - 2
14` [0 - 1] Daniel Niculae
19` [1 - 1] Romain Sartre
22` [2 - 1] Joseph Desire Job
89` [2 - 2] Daniel Niculae
0 - 3
71` [0 - 1] Pedro Pauleta
87` [0 - 2] Pierre-Alain Frau
90` [0 - 3] Marcelo Gallardo
77` Kim ("Nancy") was sent off the field
Top scorers:
(Rank, player, club, goals)
1. Steve Savidan ("Valenciennes") 13
2. Pedro Pauleta ("P.S.G") 10
3. Aruna Dindane ("Lens") 9
4-7. Ismael Bangoura ("Le Mans") 8
Ilan ("Saint-Etienne") 8
Fred ("Lyon") 8
Kanga Akale ("Auxerre") 8
8-10. Mathieu Bodmer ("Lille") 7
Juninho ("Lyon") 7
Florent Malouda ("Lyon") 7
Standings:
