Marouane Chamakh brushed aside recent speculation surrounding his future at Bordeaux to help keep the French champions near the top of the league in a 3-2 away win at Sochaux on Saturday.
Only weeks ago the Moroccan striker had been a transfer target of English Premier League side Arsenal and looked on his way to the Emirates until Bordeaux slapped a hefty price tag on his head, leading him to hit out at his club.
Any ill sentiment he may have been feeling was left behind in the dressing room, however, as he rose above the Sochaux defense twice to head home either side of halftime.
PHOTO: AFP
Brazilian midfielder Wendel was credited with adding Bordeaux’s second goal when he benefited from a fluke deflection off the keeper as he tried to pass across goal in the 42nd minute.
Laurent Blanc’s side have six points from two games and are second in the table behind Nancy on goal difference.
Blanc said his side played with passion in the first half and let their guard down in the second, but he was delighted with the result.
PHOTO: EPA
“We had some guys on international duty last week, so after about an hour they started to get tired, but even though the score was tight, it was clear that we totally dominated the match,” Blanc said.
Paris Saint-Germain made amends for their opening draw last weekend with a 3-1 hammering of Le Mans, after Turkey’s Mevlut Erding opened their account with a stunning individual effort in the 34th minute at the Parc des Princes.
Le Mans had opened the scoring through Norwegian striker Thorstein Helstad in the 21st minute, but PSG’s charge toward victory looked on after Erding collected on the left flank and then turned his marker inside out before unleashing a shot that beat goalkeeper Rodolphe Roche at his far post.
Another Le Mans player, Frederic Thomas, then had the ball in the net, but his own-goal on the hour did little to boost morale.
A rampant PSG then sealed their win with a third goal from fans’ favorite Ludovic Giuly, their victory moving them to third on four points.
Lyon, who won the title seven years in a row until Bordeaux loosened their grip last season, also claimed their first win of the season with Bafi Gomis’ great looping header enough to seal the points over Valenciennes.
Nancy provided one of the most stunning results of the day, a 4-0 hammering of Monaco making sure they went top thanks to a superior goal difference over Bordeaux.
“We can’t say we really expected that,” Nancy coach Pablo Correa said. “We’re showing some interesting things out on the park and it’s good to see the players are not happy with just a win.”
Lens enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to Auxerre, while Lorient grabbed a deserved share of the spoils when Laurent Koscielny scored an injury-time equalizer to draw 2-2 with Montpellier.
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