A late Anthony Modeste header earned Girondins de Bordeaux a 1-1 draw at home to Olympique de Marseille on Sunday and ensured the 2008-2009 French champions avoided defeat in their first game since the sale of Yoann Gourcuff.
Gourcuff joined Olympique Lyonnais earlier this week and in his absence Bordeaux looked set to slip to their third defeat in four games after Lucho Gonzalez gave the visitors a 12th-minute lead.
Marseille had to play for more than an hour with 10 men following the first-half dismissal of Edouard Cisse and they were within two minutes of their first league win at Bordeaux since 1977 when Modeste struck.
PHOTO: AFP
Both sides now have four points from their opening four matches, the same as fellow pre-season title favorites Lyon, leaving all three teams eight points adrift of early leaders Toulouse.
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps handed a debut to striker Loic Remy, while fellow new recruit Andre-Pierre Gignac came on in the second half, but it was last summer’s record signing Lucho who broke the deadlock thanks to a terrific assist from Brandao.
The Brazilian striker left two Bordeaux defenders on the turf after breaking forward from the edge of his own box, before centering for Lucho to clip an adroit half-volley beneath Cedric Carrasso.
The Bordeaux goalkeeper did well to claw away a deflected Taye Taiwo free-kick as the visitors increased the pressure, but Marseille were dealt a heavy blow in the 33rd minute when Cisse was contentiously sent off for sliding in from behind on Jaroslav Plasil.
Bordeaux’s numerical advantage made for an open second half and the hosts were centimeters away from an equalizer when Modeste just failed to get a touch on a Benoit Tremoulinas cross.
Carrasso twisted to repel a well-directed Andre Ayew header on the hour and he kept his side in the game again in the 77th minute when he touched Remy’s low drive onto an upright.
Steve Mandanda’s command of his box at the other end had been equally solid, but in the 88th minute Modeste got across his man to direct a powerful header inside the right-hand post from Plasil’s inswinging cross.
Earlier, Paris Saint-Germain’s defensive frailties were exposed again as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at Sochaux that sent the victors up to fourth.
Sochaux were 3-0 up at halftime after Modibo Maiga, Ideye Brown and Damien Perquis all exploited slack defending by the visitors, who had Jeremy Clement sent off late on for slyly raking his studs down Maiga’s calf.
PSG have now conceded nine goals in their last three games, having lost 2-1 at Bordeaux last weekend and completed an aggregate victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv with a 4-3 defeat in the Europa League playoff round on Thursday.
Auxerre went down 2-0 at Monaco, while Eden Hazard’s second-half equalizer rescued a 1-1 draw for Lille at home to Nice.
French Ligue 1
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Toulouse | 4 | 6 | 12 |
2 | Stade Rennais | 4 | 4 | 8 |
3 | Montpellier | 4 | 2 | 8 |
4 | Sochaux | 4 | 2 | 7 |
5 | Saint-Etienne | 4 | 1 | 7 |
6 | Stade Malherbe Caen | 4 | 0 | 7 |
7 | Monaco | 4 | 2 | 6 |
8 | Nice | 4 | 1 | 6 |
9 | Valenciennes | 4 | 0 | 5 |
10 | Olympique de Marseille | 4 | 0 | 4 |
11 | Lille | 4 | 0 | 4 |
12 | Lorient | 4 | -1 | 4 |
13 | Paris Saint-Germain | 4 | -1 | 4 |
14 | Girondins de Bordeaux | 4 | -1 | 4 |
15 | Stade Brestois 29 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
16 | Lens | 4 | -2 | 4 |
17 | Olympique Lyonnais | 4 | -2 | 4 |
18 | Nancy | 4 | -4 | 4 |
19 | Auxerre | 4 | -2 | 3 |
20 | Arles-Avignon | 4 | -4 | 0 |
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
A soccer jersey carrying a national map including disputed Western Sahara has become a hot commodity in Morocco after a diplomatic dispute with Algeria. Retailers said RS Berkane jerseys have been flying off the shelves after a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup match against Algerian club USM Alger was canceled last month over the jerseys. “We are overwhelmed by the influx of messages and requests,” said Brahim Rabii, representative of the official RS Berkane jersey distributor. Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021, partly over the issue of Western Sahara. The former Spanish colony is largely controlled by Morocco, but claimed
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just