Paris Saint-Germain continued their relentless quest to retain the Ligue 1 crown on Sunday as they overcame bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille 2-0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris to move eight points clear.
Laurent Blanc’s side notched up their 19th win in 27 outings, against just one defeat, as they rode second-half goals from Brazilian leftback Maxwell and Uruguayan Edinson Cavani to see off Jose Anigo’s side.
Ligue 1 top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic released former Inter and Barcelona defender Maxwell on 50 minutes and the Brazil international calmly placed the ball beyond Steve Mandanda in the visitors’ goal.
Photo: EPA
Blanc’s men locked up shop following the goal and rarely gave Marseille a clear-cut chance as they extended their record to 16 wins and three draws after opening the scoring.
Striker Cavani, who came on as a second-half substitute after a month out injured, then sent the Paris faithful into raptures with a powerful headed finish with 11 minutes remaining to put the gloss on a fine evening’s work.
“It was very hard to be out injured for a month, so I’m very happy tonight,” Cavani told Canal Plus TV. “It was a great goal, and I just want to thank my teammates and to thank God for allowing me to come back tonight and score.”
Photo: AFP
Following second-placed AS Monaco’s 2-0 reverse at AS Saint-Etienne on Saturday, PSG are red hot favorites to retain the title they won last season for the first time since 1993-1994.
The capital club also play Olympique Lyonnais in the Coupe de la Ligue final and stand on the brink of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after thrashing Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen 4-0 in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in Germany.
Earlier on Sunday, LOSC Lille Metropole’s Ivory Coast international Salomon Kalou fired a hat-trick to lift the northern French club past AC Ajaccio 3-2 in Corsica and back into third spot.
Photo: Reuters
The former Chelsea striker canceled out compatriot Junior Tallo’s shock first-minute opener to level the match from the penalty spot on 25 minutes, before scoring again seven minutes before halftime to put the visitors ahead.
Tallo leveled the match for the basement dwellers, who have won just two games all season, just before halftime, before Kalou completed his hat-trick, again from the penalty spot, 16 minutes from time to give Rene Girard’s side three crucial points.
“It’s really a miracle that we won tonight,” Girard said. “It was crucial to get third place back. Saint-Etienne have come back strong the last five matches and we have been battling for results for some time. The only thing positive from this match is the three points and we’re going to have to show a lot more in the coming weeks to keep our position.”
Lille are one point ahead of Saint-Etienne in the race for third place and the final UEFA Champions League spot. Ajaccio remain rooted to the foot of the table, 13 points adrift of safety and looking increasingly doomed to playing in the second tier next season.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Olympique Lyonnais were held up in their bid to gatecrash the top three with a 0-0 home draw against Montpellier Herault.
In a match that lacked inspiration for the neutral, Remi Garde’s men moved into a tie for sixth with Stade de Reims, but remain seven points behind Lille.
Montpellier, the 2001-2012 champions under Lille coach Girard, continue to ease away from the relegation zone under Rolland Courbis and are now joint 11th, 11 points above the relegation zone.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set