by Sam Crocker
Eden Hazard strutted his stuff for the preying eyes of the rest of Europe, as Lille strolled elegantly to a 3-0 win over Evian. And it was Hazard who kick-started the Lille dominance, as he tumbled for a penalty after a clumsy tackle from Cedric Cambon in the 35th minute. The player himself took the penalty to make it 1-0 to Lille. 20 minutes later after the half-time break it was 2-0, as Dimitri Payet doubled Lille’s advantage. The defence did not deal with a long ball from Landreau, as Hazard seized on the loose ball to feed Payet, with which he powered it in at the near post. The final goal was scored by Benoit Pedretti as once again the Evian defence did not clear, and Pedretti pounced on it as it rolled in off the post.
With Lille winning comfortably in Annecy it was even more important that Montpellier continued their excellent home record against Saint-Etienne. In what was a mostly frustrating affair it took a red card for Les Verts Jean-Pascal Mignot follow by Oliver Giroud’s 89th minute volley to put La Paillade above PSG and to the top of Ligue 1. It was the Frenchman’s 18th goal of the campaign and put the pressure back on Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Those on the fence would have been pleased to see this result as Ajaccio and Lorient shared the points. Gregory Bourillion rose up after 5 minutes to nod in the freest header you will ever see as Ajaccio defenders dallied around and failed to pick up the biggest guy in the box. Ilan equalised in the 60th minute however, after good work from Benjamin Andre getting to the byline, before pulling it back for the journeyman to slot in.
Lyon beat a reformed Sochaux this evening at the Stade Gerland to take them up to 4th in Ligue 1. Lovren headed in from a Kim Kallstrom free kick early on, before Bafetimbi Gomis rounded off an excellent Lyon counter attack with a lovely delicate chip over Teddy Richert. Good work from Ryan Boudebouz in the middle of the park allowed Sebastien Roudet to slot a ball through to Modibo Maiga, where he nicely rounded Hugo Lloris before slotting into the empty goal.
Marseille once again surrendered a lead tonight to settle for a draw against Nice. The opening goal came from excellent work from Cesar Azpillcueta down the right hand side as he threw the defender, before sliding it across the box for Andre Ayew to stick it in the far corner. However, Charles Kabore was sent off at the end of the first half not long after replacing the injured Souylemane Diawara, before Rod Fanni then gave away a penalty from a clumsy foul on Esmaël Goncalves after a powerful run into the box, which Fabian Monzon powered it past the Steve Mandanda from the spot.
Nancy moved up to 12th tonight with a one goal victory over Brest. Left back Massadio Haidara overlapped down the wing and pulled the ball back to the edge of the area, beautifully picking out Bakaye Traore, as he powered it beautifully into the bottom left corner of the net.
Last up tonight Valenciennes continued there excellent home form with a one goal victory over Stade Rennes, who once again demonstrated their inconsistent form in Ligue 1. The game was settled with a Gael Danic penalty after 16 minutes, after Kana-Biyik felled Vincent Aboubakar with a poorly executed sliding tackle. The performance by Rennes was generally deemed very poor, and in order to stay in the hunt for European places they’re going to have to improve this up-and-down form.