It had to end sometime, but not many thought it would do so at the Stade Chaban-Delmas. The heroic run of Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama was finally broken, 1062 minutes after he was last beaten, Bordeaux’s Landry N’Guemo netted with what would prove to be the home side’s winner.
If the likeable Nigerian allowed himself a wry smile, it was easy to see why. N’Guemo’s effort was hardly set to be the most taxing that Enyeama had faced in recent weeks, but a sizeable deflection off defender Simon Kjaer took it away from him, leaving him without a hope. It was probably the only way that anybody was going to beat Enyeama.
There was a symmetry in the venue that his hopes of beating the record were shelved – for now, at least – with former Bordeaux goalkeeper Gaëtan Huard, who went 1176 minutes without conceding during 1992-93, the holder of the longest spell without being breached in Ligue 1. Huard looked on from the touchline – today, he is a television reporter for beIN Sport – and struggled to suppress a smile as he was hugged by Girondins winger Nicolas Maurice-Belay and high-fived by Jussiê in the aftermath of N’Guemo’s goal.
That Enyeama’s presence will weigh heavily for Lille throughout the campaign was again evident here, as he spared his side from going into the break more than a goal down with a pair of important saves towards the end of the first period. This was a resurgent Bordeaux, moving to a third successive league win, which puts them into sixth place.
Lille’s climb above Monaco in recent weeks may have been the story of the French season so far, but Bordeaux’s jump towards respectability has been even stealthier. It’s a significant comeback, given that this historic club from the south-west has been in sporting and aesthetic freefall ever since the fag-end of the Laurent Blanc era in 2010.
After the recent home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, which confirmed Bordeaux’s exit from the Europa League and capped a miserable November, president Jean-Louis Triaud spoke out. “Fortunately it’s over,” he said, “because I’m fed up with coming to matches like this.”
Triaud was referring to the indifferent atmosphere as much as the quality of the football but Bordeaux have rarely been free-flowing on the pitch in recent years, apart from when Blanc’s champions were in such a mood – a quality that the former national coach has now lent to champions Paris Saint-Germain.
They have traditionally at least been hard to break down, and the performance against Lille was a return to that obstinacy. Coach Francis Gillot had been under immense pressure, especially after the home hammering by Nantes, but the seeds of recovery were actually sown in the middle of his toughest spell.
Gillot used a deliberate ploy of packing the midfield against Lille – as WhoScored’s average player positions show – to squeeze the space available to Florent Balmont, Idrissa Gueye and the returning Rio Mavuba. The coach had already given this a go during the recent poor run, with heavy numbers congregating in the middle of the park helping to bring back a point from the trip to Rennes.
N’Guemo was the key on Sunday, not just scoring the goal – and preventing an equaliser, clearing Lille’s one on-target effort, by Pape Souaré, off the line – but making a match-high 7 tackles. He was accordingly the game’s star player, with a rating of 9.22. Grégory Sertic, the team’s outstanding performer of the season so far overall, also made his presence felt alongside N’Guemo, with 5 tackles, 3 interceptions and 2 key passes. They were aided in their workload by the return of Ludovic Obraniak in place of Henri Saivet, who made 4 tackles of his own and was responsible for half of Bordeaux’s 4 shots on target.
The versatility of Gillot’s men, as well as their considerable work rate, became even clearer after the dismissal of the habitually impetuous Maxime Poundjé, continuing Bordeaux’s current curse of the left-back. Lucas Orban had already been dismissed for a second booking at Guingamp on Wednesday night, so Bordeaux already had experience of closing out a win while at a numerical disadvantage.
The reshuffle was instant. The industrious Maurice-Belay had completed 4 dribbles, helping to relieve the pressure against an opponent that took 60% of possession, and initially filled the gap for Poundjé, before Julien Faubert then dropped into left-back from his starting place on the right of midfield. The former Real Madrid player’s considerable experience at full-back – although he has been almost exclusively used on the right – quickly told. Faubert effectively completed 3 clearances in his half-hour in the role, and didn’t commit a single foul as his team closed out the game in relative security.
This was reflected in visiting coach René Girard – who performed with distinction as a player for Girondins over eight highly successful years – withdrawing both Salomon Kalou and Nolan Roux as he chased an equaliser. There is no doubt that Lille have their limitations, which have been largely covered up by the excellence of Enyeama and their defence - conceding just 5 goals to date - and goalscoring is the major one. Kalou completed an eighth successive match without a goal here.
That should not take away from Lille’s excellent beginning to the campaign, after many thought they would struggle to challenge for a European place at the start. Still, Bordeaux are currently making the most of their own limited resources, and deserved their victory here. Going forward, Gillot and company could do worse than use Girard’s men as their template as they aim onwards and upwards.
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