21:00: So, after another intriguing day of Ligue 1 action, it is time to say goodbye. Until next time, Au Revoir!
20:55: Round-Up: Just the 7 goals in today’s 5 Ligue 1 games, but what we lacked in goals we made up for in drama. Some extremely tense finishes today, especially in Rennes and Bastia, but ultimately the 3 points is all that matters!
20:50: FULL TIME: Bastia 1-0 Bordeaux, Lorient 2-0 Montpellier, Nice 2-0 Ajaccio, Rennes 0-0 Evian, Sochaux 0-2 MHSC.
20:48: GOAL: Nice 2-0 Ajaccio (Cvitanich). Cvitanich finishes Ajaccio off! His initial shot comes back to him off Ochoa, but he then takes it round the keeper and slots in calmly.
20:45: Rennes have a free kick in a brilliant position right a the death… but it deflects off of the wall and out for a corner.
20:42: Bordeaux are throwing the kitchen sink at Bastia as they look for an equaliser. Almost every man is in the Bastia box, and it could be a very long 5 minutes for the leading side.
20:38: Bruls has been brilliant so far for Nice, capping his performance with a stunning goal, but he wasted his side’s latest chance with a free kick that clears everyone and goes out for a goal kick.
20:34: Rennes have been completely dominant against Evian, and they really should be in front. Evian have goalkeeper Laquait to thank for still being in the game; he has almost single handedly kept Rennes out.
20:30: GOAL: Sochaux 0-2 Montpellier (Tiene). What did I say? Montpellier put the game to bed as the two new substitutes combine to finish off a spirited Sochaux. It is Tiene who finishes the move, and Montpellier have a crucial win.
20:26: Sochaux trying their best against Montpellier, who of course have a man advantage, but it is difficult to take the ball off Montpellier when all of their attacking players are on song. Likely to be more goals in this game as Sochaux look to attack and leave space at the back to exploit.
20:22: Close: Hoarau almost has the impact Bordeaux needed! He hits a volley towards the bottom right corner, but Leca makes a stunning low save to keep his side in front.
20:18: Close: Oh Eduardo, what have you done? The Brazilian is put through on goal for the third time today, but this time he is onside! However, he hits his shot straight into Ospina and Nice clear. He scored the two offside chances, but missed the one that counted!
20:15: Rennes and Evian both lacking that edge in the final third. Both sides creating half chances, but neither clinical enough to finish anything off so far.
20:13: Hits the Woodwork: Lorient almost put the game to bed! Aboubakar takes aim from well outside the box, and his shot beats Ndy Assembe only to hit the post and end up in the ‘keeper’s hands. Guingamp being outplayed.
20:09: Disallowed goal: Eduardo has the ball in the net for the second time for Ajaccio, but for the second time it is disallowed for offside. Once again, the correct decision from the linesman; Eduardo was a couple of yards behind the last defender.
20:07: Close: Nice almost double their lead, as the ball falls for Cvitnich on the right hand side of the goal, but his shot is just high of Ochoa’s goal. Unlucky there for Nice, who have been on top for most of the game.
20:04: Bordeaux make a half time change in an attempt to get back into the game, as new signing Hoarau comes into the side. He made an impact last time out, so the away side will be hoping for more of the same.
20:00: KICK OFF: We are back underway at all 5 grounds! An exciting second half in store.
19:55: So, 5 goals in 5 games at half time, with every game still in the balance. Guingamp and Sochaux have the hardest tasks ahead to turn things around, but Bordeaux and Ajaccio still have a big chance.
19:47: HALF TIME: Bastia 1-0 Bordeaux, Nice 1-0 Ajaccio, Lorient 2-0 Guingamp, Sochaux 0-1 MHSC, Rennes 0-0 Evian.
19:46: Close: Brilliant chance for Niang to double Montpellier’s lead, but his low shot is straight at Cros, who can palm it away for a corner. Niang really should have scored there.
19:43: GOAL: Bastia 1-0 Bordeaux (Ba). Absolutely brilliant from Bastia! Yatabare puts in an excellent through ball to send Raspentino away on the right, who then pulls back perfectly into Ba’s path, who applies the perfect finish by wrong footing the goalkeeper. Brilliant.
19:40: Off the line: How close was this for Ajaccio?! Ospina coms charging out to claim a Ajaccio free kick, but the ball flies through his hands and comes off a Bordeaux head. As the ball is heading into the goal, Kevin Gomis runs back and clears off the line with a brilliant diving header to save Ospina’s blushes.
19:38: Red Card: Sochaux (Sinkala). Poor play here from the Sochaux midfielder. He is already on a yellow, and he flies in with a studs up challenge for no real reason. He is given his second yellow, but that could even have been a straight red. Sochaux in big double now.
19:35: Sochaux beginning to get a hold in this game against Montpellier. Ayew switches the ball out on the right to Bakambu, who has bags of space, but he wastes his cross and it goes out harmlessly for a corner. Warning signs for Montpellier.
19:32: Guingamp finally starting to get into the game now. Their latest attack sees Beauvue put a dangerous ball into the box, only to see a flying Chaigneau punch the ball clear.
19:30: Disallowed goal: Eduardo has the ball in the back of the net for Ajaccio, but it is ruled out for offside. It is close, but a good decision from he linesman. Not much to shout about for either side after that Bruls opener.
19:27: Bordeaux have a free kick in a dangerous position after Squillaci’s foul… but it is cleared and Bastia regain control of the ball. A very scrappy first half hour in that game so far.
19:24: Close: Rennes almost open the scoring again! This time it is Bakayoko who powers in a header from a corner, only to see Laquait save brilliantly once more high to his right! Laquait keeping Evian in it at the moment.
19:19: GOAL: Sochaux 0-1 Montpellier (Mounier). Mounier scores to put the away side in front! Cabella tries to flick a ball over the top of the defence, it should be dealt with by the defenders, but is instead headed into the run of Mounier, who makes no mistake with the finish. Big goal.
19:15: Close: Rennes vs Evian is very open at the moment, and Rennes have just had a great chance to score! The ball is crossed in to Doucouré, who hits it first time but sees his shot spectacularly saved by Laquait.
19:12: GOAL: Lorient 2-0 Guingamp (Monnet-Paquet). Lorient add to their blistering start with a second goal! Monnet-Paquet is released down the left hand side, and he powers a shot high inside Ndy Assembe’s near post. Guingamp’s stopper may be a little disappointed with that one, and his side have a big uphill task here.
19:09: GOAL: Lorient 1-0 Guingamp (Jouffre). Lorient take a deserved lead within 10 minutes! After some nice interchanges on the edge of the box, Jouffre manages to get a left-footed shot away that rolls into the bottom left corner of Ndy Assembe’s goal. Lorient deservedly ahead, Guingamp yet to get going.
19:06: GOAL: Nice 1-0 Ajaccio (Bruls). Wow, what a goal! Bruls stands over a free kick from the right, and curls a stunner low into a motionless Ochoa’s goal. The goalkeeper had no chance there, as the ball flew in off the post and in. Perfection from Bruls, and Ajaccio made to pay for that wasted chance.
19:04: Close: And even closer for Ajaccio, who really should have scored! The ball falls to Eduardo 6 yards from goal, with no defenders near him and just Ospina to beat, but he blazes it well over the bar! Shocking miss.
19:03: Close: We have the first chance in either of the 5 games, and it falls to Lorient! Jouffre takes aim from outside the box and tries to curl one into the far corner, but it flies wide of Ndy Assembe’s goal.
19:00: KICK OFF: We are underway in all 5 Ligue 1 games!
18:55: So, what can we expect from tonight’s games? Well, for one we can expect some very close games. Today we focus on the lower half of the table, with every team from 11th-17th in action in our 5 games. It is extremely hard to pick favourites in the games, because everyone is so close in the league, so it might come down to things as small as home advantage. I guess we’ll wait and see…!
18:50: Round-Up: On Friday, St-Etienne produced an impressive performance to overcome high-flying Lille 2-0, a win which revitalised their hopes of making the top 4. Earlier today, Marseille were set to play Valenciennes, but the game was postponed due to severe weather conditions.
18:45: Montpellier team vs Sochaux: Jourdren – Deplagne, Hilton (cap.), El-Kaoutari, Congré – Marveaux, Stambouli, Sanson – Cabella – Mounier, Niang.
18:45: Sochaux team vs Montpellier: Cros – Corchia, Sunzu, Kanté (cap.), Faussurier – Prcic, Sinkala, Eickmayer – Bakambu, J. Ayew, Mayuka.
18:44: Evian team vs Rennes: Laquait – Dja Djédjé, Angoula, Mensah, Sabaly – Wass, Koné, Sorlin (cap.), Benezet – Sougou, Bérigaud.
18:44: Rennes team vs Evian: Costil – Danzé (cap.), Hountondji, Kana-Biyik, M’Bengue – Bakayoko, Makoun, Doucouré – Pitroipa, Romero, Kadir.
18:43: Ajaccio team vs Nice: Ochoa – Hengbart, Zubar, Tonucci, Dielna – Mostefa, Faty – Lasne, Cavalli (cap.), André – Eduardo.
18:43: Nice team vs Ajaccio: Ospina – Puel, Gomis, Genevois, Kolodziejczak – Mendy, Digard (cap.) – Maupay, Brüls, Abriel – Cvitanich.
18:42: Guingamp team vs Lorient: Ndy Assembé – Martins-Pereira, Kerbrat, Sorbon, Lévêque – Langil, Mathis (cap.), Sankharé, Giresse – Beauvue, Yatabaré.
18:42: Lorient team vs Guingamp: Chaigneau – Gassama, Ecuele Manga (cap.), Lautoa, Guerreiro – Jouffre, Bourillon, Traoré, Monnet-Paquet – Aboubakar, Aliadière.
18:41: Bordeaux team vs Bastia: Carrasso (cap.) – Mariano, Henrique, Sané, Orban – Obraniak, Sertic, Poko, Maurice-Belay – Saivet, Rolan.
18:41: Bastia team vs Bordeaux: Leca – Diakité, Squillaci, Romaric, Harek – Cahuzac (cap.), S. Yatabaré – Krasic, Ilan, Ba – Raspentino.
18:40: Welcome one and all to yet another Saturday packed with Ligue 1 games! French football has been producing some thrilling games recently, not least Nantes 4-3 cup win over Nice, so let’s hope for some more exciting games today. We have 5 games on at 19:00 GMT: Bastia vs Bordeaux, Lorient vs Guingamp, Nice vs Ajaccio, Rennes vs Evian and Sochaux vs Montpellier. Team news coming up shortly…
