Saint-Etienne opened their Ligue 1 campaign with a stunning 2-1 win away to Girondins de Bordeaux on Sunday, while Stade Rennais won 5-1 in a rout at newly promoted Dijon FCO.
Saint-Etienne took the lead in the 18th minute from an own-goal by Michael Ciani. Saint-Etienne midfielder Bakary Sako skipped past the hosts’ Mathieu Chalme and sent in a low cross that was turned into his own net by the Bordeaux centerback.
Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made it 2-0 in the 31st minute with a cross-shot from the edge of the box that looped over goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso and bounced off the post into the net.
Photo: AFP
“It’s good to have three points, but it should not generate an excess of confidence,” Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier told a press conference. “It was a difficult match, but the solidarity within the team helped us win.”
Bordeaux got back into the game in the 56th minute after winning a penalty when Saint-Etienne defender Sylvain Marchal attempted to clear the ball, but instead kicked Anthony Modeste in the chest. Brazilian midfielder Jussie converted the spot-kick.
Bordeaux pushed for an equalizer, with Chalme’s shot in the 65th minutes only being denied by goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier’s legs, but the hosts left more space at the back and Saint-Etienne came close to restoring their two-goal cushion through Laurent Batlles and Marchal.
“It’s a pity for the team because I think we had a good game, but sometimes there are matches in which you are not lucky. That’s the way it is,” Carrasso told Canal Plus television. “We saw some interesting things. There was a good mindset. We will try to keep it.”
Bordeaux are still struggling to recover from last season’s split between supporters and the team, culminating in the resignation of coach Jean Tigana after his 16-year-old daughter had been insulted in the stands.
Francis Gillot was hired as coach after having led Sochaux-Montbeliard to a fifth-place finish last season, but he inherited a squad low on confidence.
In the summer, the club lost midfielders Geraldo Wendel, Alou Diarra and Fernando Menegazzo, who led Bordeaux to the Ligue 1 title in 2009.
“Saint-Etienne had a lot of luck, especially on the second goal,” Gillot said. “The second goal hurt us. The first one was already not quite orthodox, but the second goal killed us a bit. We failed in our opener, but it’s only the start of the season. There’s a lot of work to do in every area.”
In Dijon, Victor Hugo Montano put Rennes ahead in the 34th minute and two minutes later, the Colombian striker slipped a through ball to Julien Feret, who doubled the lead.
Dijon forward Brice Jovial pulled one goal back on the stroke of halftime.
Rennes winger Razak Boukari made it 3-1 in the 50th minute by outpacing the Dijon defense and beating goalkeeper Jean-Daniel Padovani.
Senegal defender Kader Mangane added a fourth goal for Rennes with a header in the 75th minute, before substitute Alexander Tettey sealed the win in the 85th minute.
“We scored five goals, but things were not simple, especially at the start of the match,” Boukari said. “We managed to fight back, even after the missed penalty. It could have been a tricky match, but we stayed united.”
Dijon had two goals disallowed in the first 20 minutes, both for offside.
Rennes midfielder Feret, signed from Nancy in pre-season, missed a penalty in the 31st minute, firing over the bar after Steven Paulle had tripped Montano.
Dijon forward Gregory Thil also missed a spot-kick in the 53rd minute, hitting the post after Jovial had been fouled inside the penalty area.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but