Easy for Bordeaux

Bordeaux continued their climb up the Ligue 1 standings with a comfortable victory over Valenciennes.

Bordeaux continued their climb up the Ligue 1 standings with a comfortable victory over Valenciennes. Goals from David Bellion and Ludovic Obraniak earned the points for Les Girondins, who have lost just once in nine league matches and now sit fourth in the table. Valenciennes have now gone four matches without a win and lie eight points off the European places. Both teams needed time to settle but it was Bordeaux who threatened first after 20 minutes with a right-footed volley from Jaroslav Plasil which was blocked on the line by visiting goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau. Valenciennes' response was a diving header from Younousse Sankhare which had to be punched clear by Cedric Carrasso. Penneteau was tested again on the half-hour mark by Nicolas Maurice-Belay, who made the most of a poor clearance before hitting a first-time shot which was pushed away by the goalkeeper. But Les Girondins were in front two minutes later. Obraniak's corner was met by Henrique, who saw his header saved by Penneteau only for Bellion to smash home the rebound. Bordeaux looked even more confident after the interval and Henri Saivet was inches wide with a powerful strike from 30 yards, before the forward had another chance with his right foot but was again narrowly off target. Obraniak gave the home side some breathing space after 72 minutes, though, providing the finish from close range to a tidy pass from Benoit Tremoulinas. Carrasso was not a complete bystander for the rest of the match and had to deal with a strike from Mathieu Dossevi which took a wicked deflection off Tremoulinas. But Bordeaux looked the team most likely to score again, although Fahid Ben Khalfallah was frustrated in the closing stages by another good stop from Penneteau.