France
None of the top four managed a win this weekend as Angers threw their hat into the promotion ring with a fine victory in the Loire derby. Monaco were expected to swat lowly upstarts Niort to one side & strengthen their grip on the Ligue 2 top spot, but the visitors stuck to their task & matched the 1-1 draw they played out on their own turf earlier in the season. It was Niort who struck first but Monaco levelled just before the break as Lucas Ocampos swept the ball home for his second goal in two games. Monaco charged forward in search of a winner but some fine goalkeeping from Paul Delecroix kept the scores level.
This team bus should be traveling to Ligue 1 stadiums next season. Courtesy of gersgraeme
Nantes failed to close the gap on Monaco after a derby defeat to Angers. The home side took the lead on 32 minutes when live-wire winger El Jadeyaoui fired home. Nantes’ task was made more difficult on 52 minutes when Papy Mison Djilobodji was shown a straight red card for a robust challenge on El Jadeyaoui The tackle did nothing to slow the diminutive winger down & he played a part in Angers’ second goal by supplying a great ball to give Charles Diers a simple tap in & put Angers one point from an automatic promotion place.
Guingamp came into the home game with Clermont having won their last five games at the Stade Du Roudourou but the visitors put an end to that record, leaving with a well earned point in a game that ended goalless due to the inspired performance of both keepers. Guingamp stay in the final automatic place despite the draw. Caen made the short journey to Le Havre for the Monday night game having dropped to fifth in the table following Sunday’s games & they ended the night in fifth place after conceding a late goal to draw 1-1.
Nimes failed to close the gap on the top five & will regret not having a reserve keeper on the bench after the early sending off of Cyrille Merville with them leading 1-0 at Arles. The home side grabbed a second half leveler to draw 1-1. Dijon were also held as they missed out on the chance to gain ground, visitors Chateauroux had lost six of their last seven away games & had failed to win on the road all season but took a second half lead following string of missed Dijon chances, but the home side eventually equalized 13 minutes from time.
Gazelec Ajaccio are still 12 points from safety after they drew 0-0 with Auxerre in a dour affair in Gueugnon. Sedan are still nine points from safety following a 2-2 draw in Lens, although the visitors will feel they did enough to win the game & led 2-0 at one stage. Le Mans had a meeting with the DNCG to discuss their future on Thursday & 24 hours later they did their on pitch future no harm with a hard fought 1-0 win over local rivals Tours, who arrived on a six game unbeaten run. The home side won the game thanks to a great goal from Joseph Mendes, who showed great strength before crafting a fine chipped finish.
Germany
The battle of the top two went the way of the leaders as Ronny hit a brace in a 3-0 win for Hertha to celebrate the contract extension he signed before the game. Hertha are now four points ahead of Eintracht Braunschweig & 14 points ahead of Kaiserslautern in the play-off place so could secure an instant return to Bundesliga this weekend. Kaiserslautern regained third place after beating Koln 3-0, inflicting a first defeat in 16 games on Koln who slip back to fourth place two points behind Kaiserslautern.
Ronny celebrated his new contract with a brace against Braunschweig. Courtesy of Analog Berliner.
FSV Frankfurt move up to fifth & are still in with a shout of a play-off place after a convincing 4-1 win at rock bottom Jahn Regensburg. FSV move ahead of 1860 Munich who took a second half lead at home to Cottbus but were pegged back & drew 1-1. Union Berlin conceded an injury time equalizer at Paderborn & are now nine points behind third place. With just six games left, it is looking unlikely Union will make up the ground to grab the play-off spot.
Jahn Regensburg’s defeat to FSV leaves them five points behind second bottom Sandhausen, who were beaten 2-1 at Duisburg. Sandhausen are a further three points behind Bochum in the relegation play-off spot, who sacked coach Karsten Neitzel after a poor 3-0 home defeat to Aue. Peter Neururer is the man charged with keeping the club at the second level of German football. Dynamo Dresden moved out of the relegation play-off place after coming from 2-0 down to beat St Pauli 3-2 in a thrilling game watched by over 29000 fans. Dresden are four behind Aue but would be delighted to finish fourth bottom.
Holland
Cambuur were the weekend’s big winners after they followed up a 4-1 success over Oss with a 2-0 win at Dordrecht on Monday night in a re-arranged game, moving them into fourth place above MVV & only two points from top spot. Cambuur have now won their last three games & could just be hitting form at the right time, next weekend’s game at De Graafschap will be a good marker to see how serious their title hopes are. Volendam went to the top & look like they may take some moving after a comfortable 2-0 win at Emmen thanks to goals from Marengo & Tuyp. Helmond didn’t play at the weekend & drop to second behind Volendam on goal difference with both teams on 51 points.
Henk Ten Cate made a winning start as coach of Sparta Rotterdam as they won 2-1 at Dordrecht ending a run of three losses which cost Michel Vonk his job, Sparta are now on 49 points alongside Cambuur. MVV are fifth after they lost ground on the teams around them following Veendam’s results being expunged, a goalless draw at sixth placed Go Ahead Eagles was not a bad result but they are now five points from the top although they have already qualified for the play-offs. Fortuna Sittard missed out on last season’s play-offs on the last game & hope that won’t be the case this season as they beat De Graafschap 1-0 & have only lost one of their last seven outings.
FC Eindhoven are showing no signs of ending their losing streak as they were beaten 3-2 at Almere City, a scoreline made more flattering by two Eindhoven goals in the last few minutes. It is now nine successive losses & 19 without a win for FCE, who stay six points adrift of Excelsior, who didn’t play. Telstar are now six without a win after a 1-1 draw with Den Bosch & sit third bottom six points ahead of Excelsior.
Italy
Sassuolo were beaten again & their lead at the top has been cut to six points as both Hellas Verona & Livorno close the gap. Novara inflicted a 3-2 defeat on the leaders & hold the last play-off place after their fifth straight win & 11th game unbeaten. Hellas enjoyed a narrow victory at home to Ternana whilst Livorno stay on the same points as Hellas with a fine 3-0 victory over Ascoli. Empoli were held 0-0 at home to Crotone & remain five points ahead of Varese, who also drew (1-1 at Padova). Empoli are more importantly eight points ahead of Brescia, who sit just outside the play-off places.
Defeats for all the bottom three makes it more likely all three will face the drop to Lega Pro. Grosseto are 17 points from reaching the relegation play-offs & could well be officially relegated this weekend. Pro Vercelli are 12 points from the play-offs & Vicenza eight points. The relegation play-off places are swapped on a weekly basis & that looks likely to continue as no fewer than 11 sides are within four points of each other.
Will Grosetto’s Stadio Olimpico Carlo Zecchini see Lega Pro football next season? Courtesy of Solobini.
Spain
Elche’s lead at the top of Liga Adelante has been cut to 11 points following a goalless home draw with Lugo. Almeria are now the closest challengers after Alcorcon suffered a surprise home defeat to lowly Racing Santander, which drops them to fifth. Almeria beat 10 man Recreativo Huelva in front of 10000 fans at the Estadio del Mediterraneo to move into an automatic promotion spot with Brazilian striker Charles notching his 20th goal of the season. The former Cordoba man has made the loss of last season’s Liga Adelante top scorer Leo Ulloa to Brighton much more bearable. Villarreal move menacingly up to third place with a 6-1 home win over in form Numancia. The Yellow Submarines are in fine scoring form, having hit five at Mirandes the previous week. Jeremy Perbet was on target with a brace taking his tally to seven goals in seven starts since signing from Belgian side Mons where he hit 51 goals in 64 starts. Girona enjoyed a 5-2 win over Murcia who were reduced to 10 men for the 15th time this season & sit precariously close to the drop zone. Girona are fourth behind Villarreal on goal difference & one point behind Almeria. Las Palmas scored in the last minute to win at Ponferradina & stay in the last play-off space, one place above their opponents but more importantly they stretched the points margin on Ponferradina to five.
Relegation rivals Xerez & Hercules battled out a dour 0-0 draw, leaving Xerez 11 points from safety whilst Hercules are third bottom, just one point behind Murcia in 18th place. Huesca became the latest side to fall at the hands of improving Real Madrid Castilla as they were beaten 5-1 & remain second bottom, whilst Mirandes fall into the drop zone despite ending a run of three losses with a good point at Barcelona B. Racing Santander sit in a position of safety for the first time since November & have only lost one of the five games Alejandro Menendez has taken charge of.
Born Offside