The early game was not a great spectacle as TV got hold of the only goalless encounter of the round, as Lens took on AC Ajaccio. Lens dominated but failed to convert in the face of their own flakiness and a great performance from ACA’s goalkeeper Riffi Mandanda, who was not only making his debut for his new club, but playing his first professional match. Ajaccio played for an hour down to ten men after Nicolas Fauvergue was sent off for a second yellow, and their obdurate defending was admirable, if not massively exciting to watch, as Lens wasted countless chances. Mandanda has already assured himself cult status for ACA with some quality sledging and two saves in the shoot-out, setting it up for Zakaria Diallo – who had a goal chalked off for offside early on – to take the winning penalty.
Elsewhere, there were many more goals (33) and also red cards (6), as is familiar. National side Orleans went a goal ahead against Tours but had a difficult second half as Enza Yamissi was sent off early on, Bergougnoux equalised from the penalty spot, and Berenguer got the winner in the last ten minutes. Fellow National side Chateauroux were undone by an injury-time winner from Nancy’s Dale, leaving CA Bastia the only representatives of the third tier going through, with a 2-1 win away at Laval.
Most chaotic match could well be Dijon v Creteil, as while the red card there (USC’s Esor) was at the end of added time, three of the goals in regular time were from the penalty spot. You would have thought that was good preparation for what happened later, but two of the takers weren’t on the field by then and Tavares missed his. Esor had earlier scored an injury-time equaliser to force extra time in the first place. Dijon eventually prevailed 4-3 in the shoot-out, and we can only imagine the state of Olivier Dall’Oglio’s fingernails after that one.
Another coach possibly banging his head against the dressing-room wall will be Valenciennes’ David Le Frapper, who saw his team go down to nine men after two straight reds in a three-minute period, inside the first half hour. Corinne Diacre’s Clermont were already a goal up by then (Diedhiou) and took full advantage with a brace from Wesley Jobello before Angelo Fulgini (France U19s) scored a consolation for the home side.
Most impressive, red-card-wise, was Sochaux’s 3-2 victory over Niort in a match that was goalless at half-time and then escalated rapidly in the second half. Raphael Caceres scored a brace and Sao notched the third in a flurry of goals, and FCSM held on despite having Ilaimaharita and Senzemba sent off on 73 and 83 minutes respectively, Niort’s Regis Brouard the manager with the heightened blood-pressure there (not for the first time this week).
Of the new arrivals in Ligue 2, Paris FC lost to Metz after extra time, and Red Star were seen off by Auxerre, but Bourg-en-Bresse beat Brest on penalties after a brace from Lakhdar Boussaha bookended the match (he also scored the winning penalty).
The second round takes place in two weeks, with Evian joining the party after getting a bye in the first round due to Arles-Avignon’s recent bankruptcy filing.
Results:
Lens 0-0 AC Ajaccio* (2-4 tab)
Sochaux** 3-2 Niort
Le Havre 1-2 CA Bastia
Orleans* 1-2 Tours
Dijon 3-3 Creteil* (4-3 tab)
Valenciennes** 1-3 Clermont
Laval 1-0 Nimes
Paris FC 1-2 Metz (ap)
Brest 2-2 Bourg (3-5 tab)
Auxerre 1-0 Red Star
Nancy 2-1 Chateauroux
