Bordeaux 0-0 Olympique Marseille

Someone pointed out after this game that the difference between a 1-1 draw in France compared with England is that such a game in France is much more entertaining. I wouldn't say I agree with this as it is based on the teams and we should remember that a 1-1 scoreline is probably less likely in England.

Nevertheless this was indeed an entertaining game although I thought it was going to peter out towards the end of the 90. Both teams came out brightly and the first chance fell to OM as a player was put through and then went down claiming a penalty. The referee was having none of it and only a few minutes later up the other end, Mandanda in the OM goal dropped a headed attempt on goal but there was no Bordeaux player following up. OM then went forward with a swift counter attack that was enough to give the Marseille team an early lead. It was a wonderfully created goal with Brandao doing much of the work down the right as Lucho ran the length of the pitch to put the deflected cross into the Bordeaux goal from only a few yards out.

It was in fact OM who continued to dominate after this point and pushed for a second. Only after the half hour mark did Bordeaux look to get back in the game when a free kick potentially struck Cisse on the arm. The referee once again shook his head but only five minutes later sent off the same player as the holding midfielder made a challenge from behind. The commentator of the game argued that this was justified but for me and many others the tackle warranted, at most, a yellow card.

At half-time OM looked good value for their lead and were unlucky not to be up by more. Bordeaux meanwhile had only sporadic chances and were clearly struggling to enforce the man advantage.

In the second half the game continued to be entertaining as Mandanda and Carrasso in particular had to make fantastic saves; each vying to be the French second goalkeeper behind Hugo Lloris of Lyon. However after about 65 minutes the game began to peter out and OM defended in numbers whilst Bordeaux failed to break them down and were forced to shoot from long range. Marseille fans must have though there team was home and dry but in the 88th minute Modeste beat his marker for a cross and powered the ball past Mandanda for the equaliser. Some of these same fans will feel hard done by but if they had been offered a draw at Bordeaux playing most of the game with 10 men; I feel most would have taken this result.

PSG 1-2 Bordeaux

When I covered a PSG game exactly one week ago I launched into a polemic of how awful the game was. This evening I watched another PSG game and was delighted by how it enthralled me and was a genuinely enjoyable experience. In the end the better team lost from two corners and will prove to be an invaluable lesson to PSG on the importance of defending set-pieces.

This is the second time that I have now watched PSG for this blog and they interest me greatly. Again, like last week, they were an impressive defensive unit at the back when they were called into action. In front of them were Makelele and Bodmer who are hard to describe as a central midfield pairing as they sit so deep. This role, on many occasions was taken up by the two wingers who often came in to fill the gap. This in turn allowed Cesara and Jallet to come forward from the wing-back positions. Up front, Erding plays so far in front of Horau it is hard to place the latter. I would put him down as a trequartista but am interested to hear others opinions. Bordeaux meanwhile played a very tight shape with Wendel and Plasil rarely venturing out to the wings as might have been expected.

In the past five meetings between these two teams, PSG had won three and Bordeaux two with no draws so the form showed that this was going to be a tightly contested match with goals. In the opening part of the game it was PSG who really dominated and constantly looked a threat to the Bordeaux defence. Their first clear cut chance was on ten minutes when a PSG attacker was presented with a one-on-one situation but Carrasso saved brilliantly. PSG continued to push and Sessegnon came close to put his team one up when he stretched for the ball from a free kick. His effort was wide though. The final chance of the half, and for PSG to take what would have been a deserving lead, fell to Erding who powered a header towards goal. The effort was once again saved by Carrasso though and the teams went in level at half-time.

PSG continued to press with the same force as the first half as soon as we entered the second half as a cross flew across goal only a few minutes in. Bordeaux's first real chance then fell in the 50th minute as a long range strike from Wendel flew over the bar. The game then started to open up a bit more and after Erding had yet another one-on-one saved, Josue up the other end managed to bustle his way through the home sides tight defence and went down. The referee judged that the player dived and the Brazilian got a yellow card for his troubles.

The first goal came 10 minutes later and against the run of play. Bordeaux won a corner, Diarra lost his man and the captain headed his team in front past a despairing Coupet. PSG could only respond with what they were doing all along and attacking the Bordeaux goal. They were eventually rewarded 76 minutes into the game as Horau was played in and slotted home. There followed a passage of play where Bordeaux could have scored twice more with good chances and Horau had a chance for a second up the other end. All these were squandered and the game looked to be heading towards a draw. That is until Ciani popped up with a header from another corner which somehow squeezed past the diving Coupet and the post to go in. An undeserved victory no doubt and PSG will be kicking themselves wondering how they managed to lose. This though will become abundantly clear this next week as manager Kombouare makes the team practice defending corners until they can do it in their sleep.

Man of the Match: Cedric Carrasso
The former OM and Toulousse goalkeeper kept his team in the game so many times with vital saves. In the end he had made six stops from the PSG attack and is the man Bordeaux fans will be singing the praises of all week.