Ligue 1 champions Girondins de Bordeaux scrapped past Grenoble with a narrow 1-0 on Saturday at the Stade Jacques Chaban-Delmas.
Yoan Gouffran’s goal midway through the first period ensured that the hosts would never really be chasing the game.
Grenoble, who have specialised in making life difficult for every side they have come up against, frustrated Bordeaux greatly in the first half, reducing their opponents to only a couple of shots on goal.
But the les Girondins would take 17 minutes to first find a way through the tenacious defence and they were clinical. Marouane Chamakh flicked a header down to Jaroslav Plasil, whose clever pass to Yoan Gouffran allowed the former Caen man to finish with a measured side-footed shot.
The home side would create only a handful of truly favourable situations in the first half, with Yoann Gourcuff denied by some smart tracking back by former Olympique Lyonnais defender Sandy Paillot after GF38’s offside trap had been sprung following a free kick.
Jody Viviani in the visiting goal gave the home fans a rare moment of excitement when he fumbled a routine cross, but he quickly gathered the loose ball before any damage could be done, while a rising Gourcuff strike prior to the break also gave the champions further encouragement.
Grenoble, who retained a strong desire to finish the game on a high, never looked to score a goal, though Laurent Batlles will rue his inability to place the ball further wide of Cedric Carrasso in the home goal when he took aim from the edge of the area.
Unexpectedly the visiting side were presented with a wonderful chance to equalise in first half stoppage time. Batlles’ free-kick was misjudged by Carrasso, who saw the ball sail over his head to Nicolas Dieuze at the edge of the six-yard box. Evidently taken by surprise by the gift, the holding midfielder contrived to put the simple chance wide of the target.
Three minutes after the break, Frank Jurietti’s chipped centred ball was scissor kicked narrowly wide by Gouffran, who was lurking at the edge of the box.
Bordeaux began to dominate their opponents and created favourable situations with increased frequency. A Gourcuff cross headed wide by Chamakh before the French international’s volley from just outside the box trundled wide, were the intentions of the champions to seal the game.
The flow of half chances continued, Wendel floating a free kick harmlessly over the bar, while Chamakh again rose impressively to head goalwards, but again his radar was off.
Les Girondins were somewhat more fortunate to get away with a strong penalty claim from their guests when the ball struck Marc Planus’ hand in the box, especially when referee Ennjimi awarded Bordeaux a free kick in a dangerous area at the other end of the park for a similar offence only minutes later.
Stoppage time brought with it one final opening for the visiting side. Ljuboja produced a good break down the left once again and picked out Nassim Akrour, but the substitute had a shot blocked. Moments later, Carrasso bravely blocked at the feet of Dieuze as Bordeaux’s unconvincing evening ended on a nervous note.
