Ligue 1, Matchday 2: Every Big Side Struggles As Lille Lose, All Of Lyon, OM, PSG Draw

French Ligue 1, Matchday 2: Montpellier Upset Lille On Sunday

Lille 0 Montpellier 1

Lille had 61% possession, 20 shots, 6 on goal, and 7 corners. Montpellier had 9, 3 and 0 respectively. Montpellier though, had the number that mattered at the end of the match, with striker Oliver Giroud scoring the game’s solitary goal. As the numbers indicate, Lille dominated the match, with Montpellier’s backup keeper Laurent Pionnier keeping out Moussa Sow early. Lille also had two penalty claims turned down; Montpellier were very lucky to get away with one, when Eden Hazard was taken down in the area. Lillie continued to attack Pionnier’s goal, but despite the best efforts of Sow, Hazard and Ludovic Obraniak, they couldn’t find a way past the Montpellier ‘keeper. Jamel Saihi’s excellent long pass broke the Lille offside trap, making it easy for Giroud to to slot past Mikael Landreau and give Montpellier the lead in the 70th minute. Lille continued to push forward, and former Portsmouth “striker” John Utaka could’ve settled the match for Montpellier when he broke clean through, but his effort hit the post. No matter for Montpellier though; La Paillade held on for the shock 1-0 victory.

The result drops Rudi Garcia’s side down to 14th place, with just 1 point from 2 matches. Early days yet, and with other favourites PSG and OM failing to impress, Lille do not to be concerned quite yet. Whether they’ve adequately replaced two key players from last year’s championship team, Yohan Cabaye and Gervinho, will go a long way towards deciding whether they retain the Ligue Un title.

French Ligue 1 Sunday: OM Throw Away Lead, Evian Win At Home

AJ Auxerre 2-2 OM

Olympique de Marseille were joint favourites to become French Champions this season, and while that may happen, a second straight 2-2 draw isn’t the best way to make an early statement. Goals from Loic Remy and Andre Ayew put OM two up in the 43rd minute, but Auxerre came flying back just after the break, with Alain Traore firing home in the 46th minute. OM might’ve thought they were going to get away with 3 points, but Roy Contout equalised 9 minutes from time, and that’s how the match ended. More defensive concerns for OM, but on a positive side for Didier Deschamps, their top scorer last year and permanent Tottenham target, Loic Remy, is already in midseason form, having scored 2 in 2. With PSG struggling to convince, OM have a very good chance of becoming champions, but they need to cut out defensive problems that have seen them concede 4 in the new campaign, and 4 in the French Super Cup to Lille.

Evian TG FC 1-0 OGC Nice

At the Parc des Sports D’Annecy, Evian Thonon Gaillard FC have come away with their first ever Ligue 1 victory, beating fellow relegation candidates OGC Nice 1-0. Summer signing Saber Khalifa, a Tunisian international, got the goal for last year’s Ligue 2 champions, who now have 4 points from 6 games, and, on unrelated note, also have the Alps depicted on their kits, which is awesome. As for Nice, last season’s 3rd worst scorers, with less than a goal per game, are still struggling to find the net, having not scored in the new season. Eric Roy is going to have to fix that problem soon, otherwise Nice could be heading down to Ligue 2, a feat they managed to barely avoid last season.

French Ligue 1, Matchday 2: PSG Still Can't Win, Lyon Held To Draw

The favorites struggled to get wins on Saturday in Ligue 1 action. Paris Saint-Germain couldn't win for the second straight match to start the season and despite having gotten results from both matches, there is no way they can be happy with their play thus far. For all the money they have splashed around they look downright dull and without any sort of creativity in the attack. That supposed run to a Ligue 1 title looks like a bit of a stretch right now no matter how much money they have spent.

It wasn't a particular pretty day anywhere in France with four of the seven matches ending in draws. That includes Olympique Lyonnais, who could only take one point at the Stade Gerland against newly-promoted AC Ajaccio. Toulouse, Caen and St. Etienne were the three winners on the day with all three picking up their sixth point in two matches.

Stade Rennes 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain

All that Qatari money isn't going to very much in Paris because PSG can't win. After an embarrassing loss to start the season, it looked like PSG  would grab three points away to Rennes, but a goal two minutes from full time left the heavy spenders still in search of their first win. Kevin Gameiro scored with just 17 minutes remaining to put PSG in front, but Jonathan Pitroipa was able to beat the offside trap just before the final whistle to get in alone on goal. He finished and Rennes had themselves a point, much to the dismay of the PSG supporters. They will get a boost soon though when Javier Pastore gets on the field after their new signing missed another match against Rennes.

Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 AC Ajaccio

It took a late equalizer for Lyon to even manage a point, but if the result was the least bit unfair it would be because Lyon did not win. They were dominant throughout and went to halftime in complete shock that they were not ahead with near misses and the post being all that stopped them from going in front. They were even more shocked when Frederic Sammaritano finished a great counter-attack to put Ajaccio in front. Another shot off the post could have led Lyon to give up hope, but they finally got a goal on an 83rd minute header by Lisandro Lopez that earned them at least one point.

Toulouse 2-0 Dijon FCO

Toulouse has benefitted from playing two newly-promoted teams in their first two matches, but they won apologize for having maximum points. While Dijon hung around for 70 minutes and didn't go down in that time, they were always on the back foot. Umut Bulut finally btoke the deadlock in the 71st minute when he got on the end of a good ball from Moussa Sissoko and Paulo Machado added a second in the 84th minute from the penalty spot to put the finishing touches on a quality win for Toulouse.

Sochaux 1-2 Caen

Maybe Sochaux just shouldn't let players leave anymore because two former players did the damage for Caen on Saturday. Romain Hamouma, a former Sochaux youth teamer, was the first to put the scoreboard to work, calmly finishing in the 15th minute. Pierre Alain-Frou, who made over 200 appearance for Sochaux, double Caen's lead in the 66th minute with a simple header to celebrate his 300th Ligue 1 match. Ryad Boudebouz got one for the home side, but it was already the 90th minute and Caen were already on their way to victory.

St. Etienne 1-0 AS Nancy Lorraine

It may have taken until the waning moments, but St. Etienne will not complain. They got themselves the win thanks to an 88th minute goal by Sylvain Marchal that puts them on six points after two matches. Jean-Pascal Mignot was able to head a free kick back across goal for Marchal to finish from just a few feet out and get St. Etienne three points that they most definitely deserved after being the better side from the first minute.

Lorient 1-1 Bordeaux

You could have skipped the first 78 minutes at Stade du Moustoir. In the 79th minute Gregory Sertic was sent off and Lorient made them pay just three minutes later when Yann Jouffre cut in from the right and ripped a great shot from 20 yards. That should have been enough for Lorient to top 10-man Bordeaux, but a free kick at the death found Henrique unmarked and the Brazilian nodded home for a draw to cap a thrilling final 10 minutes.

Valenciennes 0-0 Brest

The match wasn't short on chances, but both goalkeepers played extraordinarily and the football gods just would not see the ball into the net. As a result, both teams had to settle for a point despite both having played well enough to win. In the end, a draw was a fair result for two teams who both looked in top form.

Ligue 1 Preview, Week 2: Title Favorites Looking To Right The Ship

After an opening week that brought with it some very surprising results, several title contenders will try to get things back on track while a couple of underdogs look to build some positive momentum early on.