Montpellier joins PSG at the top of Ligue 1
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02/11/2012 - Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montpellier scored three second-half goals in the span of 14 minutes en route to a 3-0 win over Ajaccio at the Stade de la Mosson on Saturday.
The victory moves Montpellier level on points with PSG, although the capital club can take back the top spot with a win or draw at Nice on Sunday.
Montpellier always looked to be the club to open the scoring, but the hosts had to wait until the 53rd minute when Younes Belhanda converted a penalty kick after Henri Bedimo was fouled inside the penalty area by Ajaccio's Benjamin Andre.
Olivier Giroud set up the second goal for Remy Cabella in the 65th minute before Giroud found the back of the net himself two minutes later, netting his league-leading 16th goal with a wonderful volley that put Montpellier out of reach.
The hosts have now claimed wins in their last four matches, while Ajaccio saw its six-match unbeaten streak come to an end.
Auxerre 1, Lorient 1
Auxerre, France - Auxerre failed to move out of the bottom three on Saturday as the home side conceded a stoppage-time equalizer to 10-man Lorient in a 1-1 match.
Willy Boly had Auxerre in front after 18 minutes, while Lorient goalkeeper Fabien Audard was sent off two minutes later for handling the ball outside his own penalty area.
But the visitors showed plenty of fight and claimed an unlikely point in stoppage time when Innocent Emeghara met Mathieu Coutadeur's corner kick at the near post and redirected it past goalkeeper Olivier Sorin with his head.
Lorient has drawn its last four games in Ligue 1 with Auxerre sitting two points adrift of safety.
Caen 2, Lyon 1
Lyon, France - Lyon fell further off the title pace on Saturday as the club sustained a 2-1 defeat at home against relegation-threatened Caen.
The visitors beat Lyon earlier this season and completed the double on Saturday with Romain Hamouma opening the scoring after 13 minutes for Caen, while Livio Nabab doubled the advantage in the second half.
Lisandro Lopez managed to pull a goal back from the penalty spot four minutes from time for Lyon, but the result leaves them 10 points back of the leaders, while Caen moves three points clear of the relegation zone.
Valenciennes 1, Nancy 0
Valenciennes, France - Valenciennes snatched a last-gasp win on Saturday against Nancy as Mamadou Samassa scored the lone goal in stoppage time of a 1-0 win.
Valenciennes came close to scoring in the first half when Brazilian defender Gil struck the crossbar. The hosts were also denied on a good scoring chance in the second half by a goal line clearance from Nancy's Massadio Haidara.
But in the dying minutes, Samassa claimed all three points for his team when he scored from close range following a scramble in front of goal.
Rennes 1, Sochaux 0
Rennes, France - A first-half goal from Mevlut Erding was enough for Rennes to claim a 1-0 win against last-place Sochaux on Saturday.
Erding's goal arrived after 15 minutes when he headed home Jonathan Pitroipa's cross, while Rennes came close to adding another goal before halftime when a volley from Vincent Pajot struck the crossbar.
Sochaux didn't offer up much in attack but the visitors still had a chance to claim a point in the 89th minute when a shot from Charlie Davies just barely sailed over the crossbar, extending Sochaux's winless streak to nine games.
Brest 1, Dijon 1
Brest, France - Brest snatched a late draw against Dijon on Saturday as Santiago Gentiletti scored three minutes into stoppage time to level the match at 1-1 for Brest.
Dijon's Gael Kakuta scored his first goal of the campaign in the 76th minute to put the visitors in front, while Brest was reduced to 10 men in the 89th minute when Issam Jemaa picked up a second yellow card.
But despite playing a man down, the home side grabbed an unlikely point as Gentiletti scored just before the final whistle to move Brest five points clear of the drop zone.
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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