Bordeaux win again in Soyaux ! [0-2]

Maëlle Garbino was named in the starting line-up for her 50th game for the club, while Andréa Lardez celebrated her 110th appearance and Delphine Chatelin her 210th match in the top flight. Early on in the game, Bordeaux rapidly dominated possession and began to push forward. Khadija Shaw attempted to pick out Katja Snoeijs twice in quick succession (2’, 5’), but the Dutch ace was unable to put the finishing touch on either ball. The Girondines won a corner in the 13th minute, which bounced out to Ghoutia Karchouni on the edge of the box. She unleashed a powerful drive which looked destined for the back of the net, until the Soyaux keeper intervened with a superb save. After a few more close calls, Ghoutia Karchouni did eventually fire Bordeaux into the lead. Her first-touch effort from outside the box sailed directly into the goal, a truly superb strike to seal Ghoutia's fifth goal of the season. 1-0 to Bordeaux after 25 minutes.

Soyaux had their first shot on goal in the 28th minute, but Anna Moorhouse had it covered. The Girondines won a free kick in a promising position in the 36th minute, and Eve Perisset stepped up to do the honours. Khadija Shaw was well-positioned at the back post, but the ball was just centimetres beyond her reach. Shaw then picked up a yellow card in the 43rd minute, but other than that the rest of the first half went off without incident: 1-0 at the break for Pedro Martinez Losa's side.

After the break Bordeaux had two decent chances from corners (48, 49’) which came to nothing. Ève Perisset then took a free kick from the halfway line and floated it into the box. A panicked Soyaux defender bundled it out for a corner, which gave Julie Thibaud the chance to fire off a blazing volley which narrowly missed the target. Still 1-0 after 54 minutes. A few minutes later, Katja Snoeijs teed up Ghoutia Karchouni whose shot rattled the post. (56’).  Vanessa Gilles then saw yellow in the 62nd minute for a reckless challenge. The free kick was in a good position for Soyaux, but nothing came of it. In the 70th minute, Ève Perisset delivered a perfect cross for Khadija Shaw inside the box. Khadija had two shots: the first was stopped by the keeper, and the second was handled by a flustered defender: penalty for Bordeaux. Khadija coolly stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way. At 2-0, this looked very much like game over for the hosts!

This was Shaw's 20th goal of the season, and her 30th in 32 matches. Khadija is now the club's joint all-time record goalscorer, on a par with Sarah Cambot. Ella Palis came on for Andréa Lardez and Maëlle Garbino made way for Claire Lavogez, who marked her 160th career appearance in D1 this afternoon. (71’) With time ticking away, Ghoutia Karchouni tried her luck from distance but could not beat the keeper this time (84’). Julie Dufour came on as a late sub for Katja Snoeijs (86’), and fellow sub Claire Lavogez saw a shot-cum-cross fly just over the bar (87’). After 3 minutes of stoppage time the referee blew up and officialised another well-deserved victory for Bordeaux.