Girondins de Bordeaux suffered their first Ligue 1 defeat of the season when a Florian Thauvin brace inspired promoted SC Bastia to a 3-1 win on Sunday.
Bordeaux, who were unbeaten in their first nine league matches, threatened a comeback in the first half, but the Corsican side had more in the tank after the break.
Thauvin put the hosts ahead after just six minutes when he fired home from close range after benefiting from some terrible defending.
He then made it 2-0 11 minutes later, poking the ball home after Cedric Carrasso deflected a Toifilou Maoulida cross into his path.
Yoan Gouffran pulled one back for the visitors on the half-hour mark. His volley was parried away by goalkeeper Magno Novaes, but the midfielder followed up to slot home with his second attempt.
Wahbi Khazri curled a free-kick into the top corner to make it 3-1 in the 56th minute.
The clash between third-placed Olympique de Marseille and fourth-placed Olympique Lyonnais was postponed because of strong winds.
Earlier, Lorient avoided their second consecutive defeat when Gilles Sunu’s last-gap goal salvaged a 4-4 comeback draw at home against AC Ajaccio.
Lorient were 4-1 down at halftime after Chahir Belghazouani, Adrian Mutu and Eduardo’s brace had put the visitors firmly in command.
The home side, who had been thrashed 6-1 at Valenciennes the previous weekend, reduced the arrears thanks to Jeremie Aliadiere’s brace and they snatched a point when Sunu volleyed home four minutes into stoppage-time.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two