Rennes were staring at what appeared to be certain defeat against Lille on Sunday until two goals in injury time earned them an unexpected 2-1 win.
Rennes fell behind to a 23rd minute goal from Lille midfielder Yohan Cabaye but the Brittany side’s never-say-die attitude paid off when they succeeded in turning the match on its head in time added on.
Emerson’s 90th minute own goal drew them level, then young striker Moussa Sow, set up by a searching freekick blasted upfield by keeper Nicolas Douchez, found the 93rd minute winner from near the penalty spot.
In Sunday’s other early game, Nice climbed to fifth with a 1-0 defeat of Auxerre. The Cote d’Azur club notched up their second straight win courtesy of Ala Eddine Yahia’s 29th minute goal.
Bordeaux beat Nantes 2-0 in Sunday’s late kick-off. Laurent Blanc’s side took an early lead after Nantes keeper Tony Heurtebis collided with David Bellion with the referee awarding a penalty. Fernando Cavenaghi made no mistake with his spot kick.
Bordeaux then killed the game off when Fernando hit home Wendel’s 86th minute corner from the right by the near post.
The result lifted Bordeaux into third, one point adrift of leaders Marseille and Lyon.
Saturday’s program was overshadowed by a coach crash which left two Marseille fans dead and four seriously injured. A minute’s silence was held at the former European champions’ fixture at Le Havre in tribute to the victims of the accident earlier in the day involving a supporters’ bus.
The southcoast giants beat the northcoast side 1-0, the only goal coming from a Boudewijn Zenden freekick.
Marseille manager Eric Gerets told a post match press conference: “There are games when you can speak about soccer. There are matches where a win makes you feel good. But today is definitely not one of those days.”
“We’ve lost two players. They weren’t on the pitch but they were our 12th man. And that hurts,” Gerets said.
The win lifted Gerets’ men on to seven points and top of the table on goal difference from Lyon, who beat Grenoble 2-0 in Saturday’s late kick off. Le Mans in fourth ran out 1-0 winners over Saint Etienne with fifth-placed Valenciennes esarning a 3-1 home victory against Lorient.
Paris Saint Germain fielded new signing Mateja Kezman for their away trip to Sochaux.
Mevlut Erding put the home side in front with a 49th-minute penalty only for Stephane Sessegnon to level just after the hour.
Caen came away from their visit to Monaco also with a 1-1 draw. Toulouse’s trip to Nancy resulted in a goalless draw.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was