France looks across La Mer for football inspiration
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- Written by Chris Stanley
It’s a cliché, but football thrives on them, so why not start with one? If you can’t beat them, join them. Like most clichés, it doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny. What happens if the best way of joining them is by beating them? I don’t know, but Saint-Etienne certainly do after the weekend closed with them perched on top of Ligue 1 for the second week in a row.
Last week, Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier was quick to dampen any chances of his side getting carried away with their stellar start, preferring instead to put his side’s 3-0 romp over Montpellier down as nothing more than three points towards safety. But he has no such chance this week, not after his side pulled off their first away victory at Lyon in seventeen years to dump their bitterest rivals into the relegation quicksand and retake top spot from Rennes.
The season may only be just one sixth the way through but I'm rubbing my crystal ball and like a butch mystic Meg, am proclaiming Chelsea to be champions come next May.
Preston North End relieved the pressure on their manager Darren Ferguson with two wins inside a week. In a game which they were perhaps second best they beat Coventry 2-1. Goals from Billy Jones and Iain Hume gave them the win. Coventry got a Consolation through Aron Gunnarsson. However Billy Jones did clear two off the line and Andy 
There were a number of intense matches this weekend and some rather unexpected upsets which may have scuppered many accumulator bets. 
There was a familiar look to results in La Liga this week, as Real Madrid and Barcelona scored victories on the road. Yet, scratch beneath the surface of the weekend’s scores and the league itself is shaping up to be a surprisingly competitive affair across the board.