France
Monaco twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with fifth placed Angers & are now four points clear of second place Nantes with nine games remaining. Promotion chasing Angers took a fifth minute lead through Charles Diers but Dirar levelled just after the half hour. The visitors were back in front before the break when Claudio Keseru notched his 17th goal of the season & celebrate his call up to the Romanian national team in style. Monaco fought back & were level just before the hour mark when winter signing Emmannuel Riviere scored his second goal for the club. The home side rallied but found experienced visiting keeper Gregory Malicki in inspired form.
Nantes came unstuck in the Monday night fixture at Dijon, ending a run of three straight wins. The game started well enough for the visitors as Fernando Aristeguieta fired Nantes into a 17th minute lead & notched his fourth goal since joining from Caracas FC on loan. Whatever Dijon coach Oliver Dell’Oglio said at the break had the desired effect as Dijon were level three minutes into the second half through Thomas Guerbert. They took the lead two minutes later when Zakaria Diallo headed home. A ten minute period for Nantes to forget was complete when Thomas Guerbert grabbed his second of the night as he curled an unstoppable shot into the top corner as Dijon closed the gap on third place to just five points.
Fernando Aristeguieta scored but couldn’t stop a Nantes defeat. Courtesy of Albinfkz
Fourth placed Guingamp welcomed third placed Caen to the Stade du Roudourou in the weekend’s biggest game & it didn’t disappoint as both sides created numerous chances, but the game was won in the very last minute when Christopher Kerbrat fired home following a corner to send all but the 97 visiting Caen fans into raptures as the home players & staff celebrated wildly. Guingamp climb into the automatic promotion spots above Caen by three points although they have played a game more.
Promoted from the National last season, GFCO Ajaccio are finding in Ligue 2 life difficult & dropped to the foot of the table last weekend following their eighth defeat in a row, but their game against Chateauroux was called off due to the weather. Sedan’s recent good form continued with a 2-2 draw at fellow strugglers Arles as the Wild Boars remain six points from safety. It was almost a third win in four games but for a last minute own goal from Emmanuel Kouamatien Kone giving Arles a valuable point. Le Mans dropped into the bottom three & are showing no signs of leaving anytime soon as they were beaten 3-0 at home to a Nimes side who ended up winning at a canter, although they were helped on their way to their eighth win in 11 games by the officials, who failed to spot that Aurelian Boche was several yards offside as he tapped the visitors into the lead.
Holland
MVV Maastricht won the big game in Eerste Divisie last weekend when Tom van Hyfte grabbed his fourth goal in as many games to disappoint the vast majority of the 9143 crowd. MVV move up to second just two points behind Sparta. Volendam didn’t play & drop to third place. Helmond Sport slide to fourth after they were beaten by a Cambuur side who had failed to win in their last three outings whilst De Graafschap close the gap on fourth to three points after they ended Emmen’s four game winning run with a 4-1 victory.
At the bottom, FC Eindhoven were comfortably beaten again as they went down 5-1 at home to a Dordrecht team who hadn’t won in seven games. The evening started well for Eindhoven when Marco Ospitalieri gave them an fourth minute lead but an own goal put the visitors level midway through the first half. A crazy 13 minute spell after the break in which Eindhoven conceded three times angered the home crowd & Dordrecht rounded off a comprehensive win in injury time to end their barren run.
Even at carnival time FC Eindhoven fans have little reason to smile.Courtesy of f-p
Excelsior remain second bottom after a 4-1 loss at Go Ahead Eagles on Monday evening. The impressive Quincy Promes hit two of the Go Ahead goals & a big future is predicted for the 21 year old winger on loan from FC Twente. Almere have put a six point gap between themselves & Excelsior after a 3-1 win over Telstar, who like Almere have 25 points. Veendam put their financial woes to one side to come from behind to beat Oss 2-1. Den Bosch stretch their unbeaten run to nine games following a 0-0 draw at Fortuna Sittard on Friday & Fortuna played a re-arranged game with Cambuur on Monday winning 1-0 thanks to a second half Ramon Voorn goal & made it five games without conceding a goal.
Germany
The gap at the top of 2.BL has been closed to a point after leaders Hertha Berlin, who were below par for long periods of the game, drew 0-0 at 1860 Munich. Second placed Eintracht Braunschweig left it late before collecting maximum points at struggling Bochum when the league’s leading goalscorer Domi Kumbela headed home unmarked in the 85th minute. Only one point separated Kaiserslautern & Koln as they race for third place & a winner takes all double header with third bottom of the Bundesliga & that is still the case as both teams recorded victories. Kaiserslautern enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win over Ingolstadt whilst Koln went to third bottom Dynamo Dresden & won thanks to two second half Anthony Ujah goals, Dresden, who had won their last two home games including a 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin, may consider themselves unlucky not to have taken something from the game.
1860 Munich move into fifth following the Hertha draw as Cottbus were beaten 2-1 at Duisburg, who are slowing pulling away from the foot of the table. Union Berlin join 1860 & Cottbus on 38 points after a highly entertaining 4-2 win over St Pauli in which visiting defender Schachten scored one of the goals of the season but the chasing pack are now five points behind Koln & six away from Kaiserslautern with games fast running out.
With Dresden losing both the bottom two gained a point on them after hard fought draws. Second bottom Sandhausen fell behind at Aalen but came within a whisker of claiming all three points as recent Japanese signing Takuma Abe leveled in injury time for Aalen & Jahn Regensburg also fell behind but Spanish striker Koke earned them a 1-1 draw with Aue.
Spain
After a run of 15 unbeaten games, Elche have now lost two games on the trot for the first time this season after a 3-1 reverse at a Numancia side who take their unbeaten run to six games. Alcorcon climb into the second & final automatic spot after their third win on the spin coupled with Almeria losing the Andalusian derby with Cordoba 4-1. Alcorcon were comfortable 2-0 winners at relegation threatened Mirandes. Girona are three points behind Alcorcon & in fourth place after ending a run of four successive away defeats with a 3-1 win at Recreativo Huelva & Villarreal won their third game in a row with a 1-0 success at lowly Huesca. Las Palmas’ fine home form continued as they beat Real Madrid Castilla 2-0 & move into the final play-off place after Barcelona B dropped to sixth as they became the latest team to suffer at the hands of the improving Sporting Gijon.
Xerez ended a horror run of nine successive losses with a 1-1 draw at relegation rivals Racing Santander. Xerez led only for former Manchester City man Gai Assulin to level 14 minutes from time. Hercules are now just five points from safety after a morale boosting 3-1 win over high flying Sabadell. Huesca & Racing Santander are in the final two relegation places with Mirandes & Murcia both three points above the drop zone.
Italy
A double round of fixtures in Italy! Leaders Sassuolo beat Cittadella 1-0 but conceded in the last minute at Juve Stabia to draw 1-1. Another last minute goal on Tuesday moved Hellas Verona into an automatic spot as Daniele Cacia struck late in the 2-1 win at Virtus Lanciano. Four days earlier Hellas fell behind to promotion rivals Livorno but fought back to draw 1-1. Livorno also drew in midweek, dropping them to third place with 60 points same as Hellas who have a better head to head record. Sassuolo are 11 points clear with only 10 games remaining. Empoli are pulling clear in fourth place after a four point haul over the weekend with Varese in fifth. Padova were in sixth place but two defeats against teams battling relegation has seen Brescia move three points ahead of them.
Grosseto picked up four points & Pro Vercelli scored three over the last two games but both are running out of games, with Grosseto 12 points from a relegation play-off place & 13 from safety. Pro Vercelli are two points better off. Vicenza lost 1-0 to Ternana on Saturday & by the same scoreline at Crotone on Tuesday & are four points behind Bari & five behind Reggina who sit in the relegation play out positions. A total of nine teams are within three points of a relegation play-off place as Serie B enters the final run in with everything to play for at both ends of the table.
Born Offside
