Paris Saint-Germain, seeking only their third title and first since 1994, and Lyon are setting the pace in the Ligue 1 after both posted key away successes on Saturday.
With Bordeaux looking to make it three wins out of three against Nice yesterday, it was Marseille who lost ground following a 1-1 draw at Rennes, where the Mediterranean club missed a hat full of chances to make it a three-way overnight tie at the top on seven points with PSG and Lyon.
Marseille ought to have gone top with maximum points, but were denied by a superb performance from Rennes keeper Nicolas Douchez, who repelled everything thrown at him save for a close-range volley from Mamadou Niang seven minutes after the restart.
PHOTO: AFP
Jerome Leroy had slotted home a neatly-taken penalty for Rennes on the half-hour after Suleimane Diawara had handled in the box.
Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda almost gifted Rennes the lead once more on the hour when he initially failed to control a loose ball and nearly let in Ismael Bangoura.
At the other end, Brandao saw Douchez repel a venomous low drive and then excel himself still further with a top-drawer tip over from Fernando Morientes’ point-blank effort before making a diving stop from Niang.
Paris Saint-Germain have spent the years since their last title win in the doldrums, save for occasional domestic cup success, but their repeated lack of success in qualifying for the lucrative Champions League has left the capital club with a financial gulf to bridge.
Peguy Luyindula’s opener and further goals from Mevlut Erding and Christophe Jallet, however, were enough to send Antoine Kombouare’s Parisians joint top with Lyon following a 3-2 win at Valenciennes, for whom Siaka Tiene and Rudy Mater were on target.
Lyon, dethroned by Bordeaux last season after seven unbroken years at the top of the tree, raced past Auxerre 3-0, with Jean-Alain Boumsong, Jean II Makoun and Miralem Pjanic all hitting the net for Claude Puel’s side who steamrollered Anderlecht in their Champions League qualifier first-leg match.
Boumsong said Lyon were again the team to beat.
“Things are going well — this group has a lot of quality,” the France international and former Newcastle United defender said.
Elsewhere, Nancy lost their early leadership of the table as they slid to a 2-1 loss at modest Le Mans.
Monaco, shocked 4-0 last week at Nancy, got back on track with a 2-0 home win over Lorient.
There is no respite for former giants Saint Etienne, who slumped at their Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium to promoted Boulogne 1-0 for a third loss in as many outings.
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
A baseball team from New Taipei City won the US Pony Palomino Division World Series yesterday in Laredo, Texas, defeating the US West representative team from Azusa, California, 2-1. Ku-Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School earned the right to represent Taiwan in the Pony Palomino (17 to 18 age group) World Series after winning this year's Wang Chen-chih Cup, a competition named after Taiwanese-Japanese baseball legend Wang Chen-chih (王貞治), also known as Sadaharu Oh. In the championship game against Azusa, Ku-Pao's starting pitcher Luo Yu-yan (羅于晏) was erratic early, giving up two hits in the bottom of the first inning, followed
Taiwanese pitcher Teng Kai-wei took the mound in New York on Saturday as the starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants in his MLB season debut against the New York Mets, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing five runs. The Taiwanese right-hander struggled early, giving up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, including a three-run homer to Mets slugger Pete Alonso — his 250th career home run. However, Teng was not fazed and soon found his footing, holding the Mets scoreless in the bottom of the second and third innings. Meanwhile, Mets starter Kodai Senga of Japan made a few errors
RSS