Ligue 1 Roundup: Watch Radamel Falcao Score 1st Monaco Goal in 2-0 Win

The new 2013-14 season got underway in France on Saturday, as Ligue 1 witnessed the return to the top flight of free-spending Monaco away against Bordeaux.

Nineteen goals from the first nine games of the season bode well for another interesting campaign in Le Championnat, where plenty of eyes will be on the matchup between reigning holders of the title Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco themselves.

Lille vs. Lorient, Lyon vs. Nice and Valenciennes vs. Toulouse were just some of the other encounters of Week 1—and your complete Ligue 1 roundup is right here.

Bordeaux 0, Monaco 2

AS Monaco made their eagerly awaited return to top-flight football with an away trip to Bordeaux, and after making extreme hard work of their season opener, the principality side emerged with a two-goal victory.

Monaco were hard-working and largely made the better use of the ball in the first half, but moments of creativity and promising link-up play were few and far between. Radamel Falcao was almost a non-entity, with Yannick Carrasco certainly the most dangerous player in the side.

Bordeaux stood up to the task of welcoming Monaco back to Ligue 1 manfully, but created precious little of their own.

James Rodriguez was presented with a golden chance to score, the best of the first half, but elected to square to Falcao instead of shooting—and overhit his pass to see the chance disappear entirely. Other than a Carrasco shot which swerved late on and forced Cedric Carrasso into a save with his feet, that was the best Monaco mustered in a tense—but quality-free—first half.

After the break, it was more a case of counterattacking, when possible, for both sides, but two moments of defensive misfortune, or moments of lacking concentration perhaps, cost Bordeaux a point.

First, it was substitute Emmanuel Riviere who benefitted, turning to fire home after a cross from the impressive Layvin Kurzawa from the left, before Falcao got his competitive debut goal just a few minutes from full time.

Much more will be expected of Monaco as the season goes on and the players spend more time training together, but for their return to the big time, three points will be enough to go on, especially away to a top-half side such as Bordeaux—despite a less-than-convincing performance which came with it.

Montpellier 1, PSG 1

Paris Saint-Germain endured a tough and frustrating start to the defence of their Ligue 1 crown, after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Montpellier in the season opener on Friday evening.

PSG started with new signings, Lucas Digne and Edinson Cavani, on the bench, but a familiar-looking side quickly went behind after only 10 minutes as Remy Cabella scored for Montpellier, the 2011-12 winners of Ligue 1, after Zlatan Ibrahimovic lost control of the ball in midfield.

Zlatan made up for his error by heading down for Maxwell to smash home the equaliser on the hour mark, however.

Abdelhamid El Kaoutari was sent off for Montpellier midway through the second half, but despite the introduction of Cavani and Adrien Rabiot from the bench, the title-holders couldn't find a way to go ahead and had to settle for a point.

Evian 1, Sochaux 1

Two of the teams who spent last season battling to avoid relegation met on the opening day, with Evian and Sochaux fighting out a 1-1 draw.

The two clubs finished 16th and 15th, respectively, last term and will be hoping for an improvement over the course of the 2013-14 season.

Fabrice Ehret opened the scoring in the game after only four minutes, heading past Simon Pouplin to give Evian the lead, but an equalising goal from Roy Contout 10 minutes into the second half and the subsequent failure of either team to find a winner meant the points were shared.

Sochaux gave left-back Julien Faussurier his debut after signing from Troyes this summer, while Evian did likewise with former Nimes winger Nicolas Benezet.

Lille 1, Lorient 0

One goal from 18-year-old striker Divock Origi was all it took for Lille to take the spoils on the opening day at home to Lorient, with the goal inside the opening quarter of an hour proving enough for all three points.

Lille were exceptionally strong at home last season, losing just three matches all season on their own turf to help them to a top-six finish, while Lorient won just four games away from home during the entire campaign. That form proved set to continue for both sides in this match at the start of the new season.

Marvin Martin set up the match-winning goal, with Origi finishing with a smart strike from outside the box.

The home side fielded new signing, big-name centre-back Simon Kjaer in their starting XI, and the Dane will have been pleased to help keep a clean sheet on his Ligue 1 debut. Meanwhile, Lamine Gassama was sent off for Lorient for two yellow-card offences.

Lyon 4, Nice 0

Lyon made a terrific start to the new season by hitting Nice for four, though the game was actually much closer than the scoreline suggests.

Nice actually had the superior amount of possession and only one shot fewer than their hosts during the game, but failed to take their chances and saw young forward Alexandre Lacazette, in particular, in fine goal-scoring form.

These two sides finished third and fourth in Ligue 1 last season, and Lyon, at least, showed they are ready to push for further success this term with the victory.

Lacazette scored the first and third goal of the game, either side of a header from Clement Grenier, before Yoann Gourcuff rounded things off with a strike direct from a free kick in stoppage time.

Nice conceded more goals away from home than any other team in the top seven last season, and this whipping on the opening day means they've started this term off on the wrong foot in the same regard.

Nantes 2, Bastia 0

One of the most eventful matches of the day in Ligue 1 came at the Stade de la Beaujoire, where newly promoted Nantes overcame Bastia by a 2-0 scoreline.

Filip Djordjevic scored the game's opening goal midway through the first half, with Julian Palmieri putting through his own net in the final minute of the game. In between those goals, Jordan Veretout—a star of France's under-21 side this summer—was sent off for Nantes and Ilan Araujo was shown a straight red card for Bastia.

It was a good start for Nantes on their return to Ligue 1, while Bastia's poor away form from last season continues into the new campaign.

Rennes 2, Reims 1

Rennes found a late winner to get their new season off to a winning start, with the 13th- and 14th-placed teams from last season's final table looking for a long period as though they would end up drawing this match.

Vincent Pajot scored after less than 10 minutes for Rennes to give them the lead, but right on half time a strike from Polish midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak levelled up matters for Reims. Turkish striker Mevlut Erding, who hit 10 Ligue 1 goals last season, scored the winner with just six minutes remaining to give Rennes the three points.

The away team gave debuts to three players during the course of the game, while Rennes started new signing Jean Il Makoun and brought fellow new-boy Nelson Oliveira, on loan from Benfica, off the bench early in the second half.

Valenciennes 3, Toulouse 0

Two mid-table teams from last season clashed on the opening day, and it was Valenciennes who ran out comfortable winners, thanks in part to Toulouse seeing the earliest red card of the season when Uros Spajic was sent off after just 35 minutes of the 2013-14 campaign.

Maor Melikson scored the ensuing penalty, and Toulouse were never in the game after that, managing just two shots during the entirety of the match.

There were goals in the second half from Jose Saez, and, in injury time, Gregory Pujol consigned Toulouse to a heavy opening-day defeat, while Valenciennes will hope the result is a sign that their home form will once again be as reliable as it was last term.

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