1st day review

By: Evilo | August 9th, 2009

Here are some thoughts about the first 8 games of L1 action yesterday evening.

Prospects in bold.

Grenoble 0-2 Marseille
OM had a dominant performance that could have turned bad on a missed kick by Mandanda. Abriel showed his class, and Niang was the Player of the Game.

Le Mans 2-2 Lyon
Gutsy but not inspiring performance from Lyon. They didn’t show much movement and talent nor much imagination. But they did show commitment to come back. When Gomis came in Lyon became really dangerous with two forwards (Lisandro is quality no doubt, goal and assist for his first game). Govou and Ederson were especially bad I thought. For Le Mans, Lamah was interesting, Coutadeur had some really good plays and Le Tallec was once again extremely impressive. Corchia was the best defenseman on the pitch. Not bad for an 18 year old. Louvion did OK and Goulon was a rock in midfield, extremely impressive.

Montpellier 1-1 PSG
Guess who was the best player of that game? Mamadou Sakho of course. Totally dominant performance, which is surely a sign of things to come this season. Erding missed his opportunities but his presence is still a threat to any defense. For Montpellier two youngsters had a really good game : defenseman Yanga-Mbiwa (89) and midfielder Younes Belhanda (90).

Rennes 3-0 Boulogne
Sylvain Marveaux was impressive and finished with two assists. Bangoura scored one of the most impressive goal of the season already (7th minute!). Lemoine had a solid game, as usual.

Valenciennes 1-3 Nancy
Féret was the man of the match. He finished one goal, one assist and an assist on a penalty (he sent Dia who was fouled in the box). Dia had a good game and used his speed smartly.

St Etienne 0-2 Nice
What a game by Loïc Rémy. He’s starting this season the way he finished his last : at an international level. He played a key role on the first goal, scored the second on an impressive solo effort and had a great game all around. Former PSG prospect Mabiala was really good. Traoré scored a blast. Matuidi was yet again the best player on his team. Rivière had one opportunity but missed it.

Auxerre 0-1 Sochaux
Really poor performance from Auxerre, while Sochaux youngsters proved solid and imaginative. Long time injured prospect Nogueira was very impressive and was arguably the best player on the pitch. It’s worth noting that he started instead of Boudebouz. Marvin Martin played up front and was very good and Maurice-Belay once again showed his quality. Sverkos obviously was key, scoring another important goal.

Monaco 1-0 Toulouse
Monaco’s front 4 (Nene, Bakar, Park, Pino) was very good, and the play of the game was Park’s pass to Nene for the goal. Nkoulou played DM without leaving much of an impression, and Mongongu played CB without impressing either.