Karim Benzema scored twice for seven-time reigning champions Lyon in a 3-1 victory at Le Mans on Saturday to boost their French title chances and ensure they finished the weekend at the top of the table.
Bordeaux, meanwhile, warned they were still up for a fight with a last-gasp 1-0 victory at home to Nancy to give them second spot thanks to Marouane Chamakh, three points behind the leaders.
Lille are also in the title hunt and their 2-0 win at Nantes left them fourth while Toulouse drew 0-0 at lowly Caen in the late match for fifth place.
Third-placed Marseille were due to travel to St Etienne yesterday without president Pape Diouf who had an emergency eye operation on Saturday.
Benzema’s 13th and 14th league goals for Lyon ended a mini-drought as he had not found the net since Feb. 21 but hapless Le Mans keeper Pele, who will be leaving the club at the end of the season, hardly gave his future employers a good impression.
Lyon boss Claude Puel, who has endured huge criticism lately, admitted afterwards: “The result was flattering.”
Former Rangers striker Jean-Claude Darcheville scored after just 26 seconds in Valenciennes’ 2-0 victory over Auxerre to register the fastest goal in the French championship this season. It beat the previous fastest goal of 52 seconds, which was scored by Thomas Kahlenberg for Auxerre against Le Havre on Feb. 21.
Another striker who has been catching the eye lately is Lille’s Michel Bastos, who scored his 13th goal of the season from the spot in their 2-0 win at Nantes.
Yesterday PSG hosted Nice hoping to keep in touch with the leading teams.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and