Half-Time Report: OM vs. Valenciennes

By: Sarah | September 26th, 2009

$Niang Celebrates After Scoring OM\'s 2nd Goal Against Valenciennes$

As the whistle blows for half-time, the score line is a lot closer than I like…but I guess it is more exciting to watch!

OM Starting Line-Up: Mandanda, Heinze, Diawara, Rool, Bonnart, Cisse, Cheyrou, Gonzalez, Niang, Brandao and Morientes

Valenciennes Starting Line-Up: Rolland, Assembe, Schmitz, Bisevac, Tiéné, Ducourtioux, Sanchez, Gomis, Cohade, Mater, Samassa and Audel

OM Goals: Morientes (13′ right footed shot from close range), Niang (22′ right footed shot from close range on a corner)

Valenciennes Goals: Bisevac (21′ right footed shot from center of box off of a corner), Ducourtioux (29′ header from the center of the box)

What to Look Forward to in the 2nd Half:

Ben Arfa: Ramadan is over, and there have been a lot of reports that he “looks like a different person in training.” Apparently the inability to drink and eat normally affected his focus, stamina and overall game the past month (Deschamp’s words, not mine). Since Ramadan ended a little over a week ago, he has just “exploded” in training. I didn’t think DD would put him in the starting 11 since he has basically played less than 15 minutes a game for the past month, but I expect him to come on pretty early in the second half. The Ben Arfa drama continues (shocking!) as he really pissed off the Valencienne fans last year. If you think back to a year ago, the OM-Valenciennes game was before the OM-PSG game where HBA flat refused to warm-up. Unlike the PSG game or the start of this season, he actually managed to score a great goal. But, his celebrating really angered the crowd, who have vowed to boo him every time he touches the ball today. So, lets see is he can “explode” while being booed.

Defense: We don’t seem to be able to sustain momentum very well… every time we get ahead, we lose focus. I expect DD to have a few words with our central defense (both of the 1st half goals were from the center of the box)..and lets see if Heinze and Cisse can resolve this issue without fighting in the dressing room (which happened after the loss to Milan a few weeks ago).

For those who want to watch the second half, check out streams here.