Bordeaux bask in record-breaking night

Goalscorer Johan Micoud looked back on a "a great night" after FC Girondins de Bordeaux's 6-0 win at AS Monaco FC etched a new mark into the club's record book and kept them in contention for the Ligue 1 title.

Goal rush
After Olympique Lyonnais went down 1-0 at Le Mans UC 72, Bordeaux knew a win at Monaco would move them to within one point of the leaders. On 51 minutes the game was still level, but then in-form Fernando Cavenaghi opened the scoring and later claimed his eighth goal in six games. Playmaker Micoud also chipped in with a double and Marouane Chamakh and Gabriel Obertan were also on target against a Monaco team reduced to ten men when Diego Pérez was sent off with his team 3-0 down.

Records tumble
It was Bordeaux's biggest ever away league win, not to mention Monaco's record home top-flight defeat, and the first time in 50 years that a Ligue 1 team has scored six second-half goals. "I would never have guessed that was going to happen at half-time," said Ricardo, who left Bordeaux to coach Monaco in the summer. "I don't know what happened to my players. They suddenly looked like they were playing in the dark."

Delight
Micoud, who struck his 50th Ligue 1 goal, naturally had a different view. "It was a great night," he said. "We felt we would score every time we had a chance." Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc, who had bemoaned his team's lack of a cutting edge in their 2-1 UEFA Cup defeat at RSC Anderlecht on Thursday, said: "Hopefully it will impress our opponents. It's funny because I said to my players after the Anderlecht game that they were not efficient enough. Their response gives me total satisfaction."

Caution
After the visit of Anderlecht on Thursday, Blanc has another big game on the horizon - the trip to Lyon on 8 March. However, for now he is keeping calm. "I won't say that we want the title," he said. "Just that the further we go clear of the teams behind us, the more chance we have of catching the leaders."