Olympique de Marseille were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 action on Sunday, while Paris Saint-Germain crashed 3-2 at Girondins de Bordeaux.
The results mean Lyon move two points clear of defending champions PSG while Marseille, who had a goal disallowed late on, remain four points adrift of the pacesetters.
A match that featured the league’s two top goalscorers in Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette and Marseille’s Andre-Pierre Gignac failed to produce a goal despite a fiery encounter.
Photo: AFP
Gignac hit the post with 20 minutes left, while Argentine Lucas Ocampos had a goal correctly disallowed late on, as Marseille came up agonizingly short in their bid to bridge the gap on Hubert Fournier’s league leaders.
Paris Saint-Germain suffered a Champions League hangover as sloppy defending cost them a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Bordeaux and valuable ground in the title race.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had equalized twice for Laurent Blanc’s side, who remain in the hunt for four trophies, but Diego Rolan popped up in the 89th minute to steer the ball home when the central defense collapsed.
In Sunday’s other Ligue 1 game, Belgian teenager Divock Origi, who had not scored for six months, helped himself to a hat-trick in LOSC Lille Metropole’s 3-0 mauling of Stade Rennes.
The win lifts Rene Girard’s side up to eighth place, while Rennes slip into the lower half of the table.
SERIE A
Veteran striker Luca Toni scored in either half as Hellas Verona stunned SSC Napoli 2-0 at home on Sunday to dent the Azzurri’s hopes of a runner-up finish in Serie A.
AC Chievo Verona pulled themselves further away from the drop zone thanks to a shock 2-0 win at Genoa where Alberto Paloschi hit a second-half brace to secure just their seventh win of the season.
Inter were held to a 1-1 draw at home by struggling AC Cesena, who took the lead through Gregoire Defrel, with Rodrigo Palacio scoring the equalizer.
Elsewhere, Atalanta BC registered a 0-0 draw against visitors Udinese, while hosts US Sassuolo inflicted more misery on Parma by thrashing them 4-1.
BUNDESLIGA
Second-placed VfL Wolfsburg beat SC Freiburg 3-0 at home on Sunday to remain 11 points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, and keep the visitors firmly in the relegation zone.
Kevin de Bruyne opened the scoring and played a role in goals by Roberto Rodriguez and Maximilian Arnold.
Meanwhile, Patrick Herrmann scored both goals for hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach, who won 2-0 against Hannover 96. Moenchengladbach are third, nine points behind Wolfsburg and two points ahead of Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
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
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