Olympique de Marseille’s swashbuckling 6-1 away win at Toulouse on Friday put them firmly back in the French Ligue 1 title race after coach Marcelo Bielsa rang the changes.
Olympique Lyonnais top Ligue 1 on 54 points, but Marseille moved into second, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain on goal difference on 53 points.
“This isn’t a direct message to Lyon or Paris, above all it’s important for us. Scoring so many goals gives us confidence,” Bielsa said.
Photo: AFP
Bielsa had benched his brooding star striker Andre-Pierre Gignac and his young replacement, the 21-year-old Belgian Michy Batshuayi, scored twice — his second brace in three games.
He was the battering ram who led a breathtaking charge that saw Marseille lead 4-0 at half-time. Batshuayi’s brace, a Baptiste Aloe poke and an own goal sank Toulouse before the break.
Toulouse’s star man Wissam Ben Yedder grabbed a goal with the score at 4-0, while Marseille’s relentless Andre Ayew and Gignac, on as a substitute, scored fine goals in the second half.
Photo: EPA
It was a real night to remember for Marseille, who had not won away in Ligue 1 since early October last year.
BUNDESLIGA
VfB Stuttgart drew 0-0 at home against Hertha BSC on Friday to stay anchored to the foot of the German Bundesliga table and leave coach Huub Stevens’ future at the former champions in doubt.
Photo: EPA
Stuttgart, 2007 Bundesliga winners, are in last place on 20 points, four points from safety after failing to win any of their last eight league games, while 14th-placed Hertha have 25 points.
Dutchman Stevens returned to the club in November last year after helping them stay up last season, but has so far failed to turn their fate around, with the team averaging less than a point per game under the 61-year-old.
The hosts, though, were far more aggressive in the first half with several good chances through Timo Werner and Filip Kostic.
Hertha, improving under Pal Dardai, came close once in either half, but were otherwise happy to defend for a point and leave the initiative with nervous Stuttgart.
The hosts were lucky not to have Georg Niedermeier sent off after he rammed his shoulder into goalkeeper Thomas Kraft’s face in another frustrating home game for Stuttgart, who failed to score despite an unusual seven minutes of stoppage-time.
Hertha were the side who ended the game with 10 men when Nico Schulz was sent off for a second booking at the final whistle.
LA LIGA
Goals by David Barral and Kalu Uche lifted Levante UD from the relegation zone as they beat Sociedad Deportiva Eibar 2-1 in the Spanish La Liga on Friday.
Eibar took the lead when Saul Berjon scored his third goal of the season in the 55th minute by rising to strike a beautifully-timed high volley inside the far post from Eneko Boveda’s cross.
“At least we scored this time, our first goal in four matches, although it’s our seventh consecutive loss,” Berjon said.
Barral equalized when he deflected Antonio Garcia’s shot on goal, changing the ball’s trajectory to beat Eibar goalkeeper Jaime Jimenez in the 65th minute.
Kalu Uche secured the win with his third goal of the season two minutes later after pouncing on a defensive error by Raul Rodriguez Navas.
“It’s incredible the faith we have in ourselves,” Barral said. “We don’t consider any ball lost and here at home we fight for every single one.”
Eibar were reduced to 10 men when midfielder Dani Garcia was sent off for a second yellow card in the 88th minute.
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