Olympique de Marseille missed the chance to close to within two points of Paris Saint-Germain at the top of Ligue 1 after slipping up 1-0 at Girondins de Bordeaux in Sunday’s late game.
Defender Cedric Yambere’s 61st-minute goal, less than a minute after coming off the bench, sank Marseille, now fourth, and dealt their title hopes a massive blow.
In a game dominated by the visitors, Michy Batshuayi had the ball in the back of the Bordeaux net with 15 minutes left, but the young Belgium forward’s effort was correctly flagged for offside.
Photo: AFP
Marseille have not triumphed at the Stade Chaban Delmas since 1977 and have picked up just four victories in 51 attempts against Bordeaux in the top flight.
With six games to go, the south coast side find themselves five points behind leaders PSG and four adrift of second-placed Olympique Lyonnais, with both teams having a game in hand.
“We’re in an uncomfortable situation, but we retain the strength to change that and we hope that our league table position will be what we deserve. We will fight for every point. Obviously we did not expect this slip-up and I don’t think we deserve to be out of the top three now,” Marseille coach Marcelon Bielsa said.
Bordeaux now sit on sixth and are in contention to qualify for the UEFA Europa League with their fourth win in the past five games.
Earlier on Sunday, there was a hint of nostalgia in Ligue 1 as AS Saint-Etienne beat Nantes 1-0, the two clubs having won 15 league titles between them in a 20-year stretch up to the early 1980’s.
On an afternoon of glorious sunshine, thousands of fans went bare-chested in the stands at a packed and boisterous Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, where Franck Tabanou’s thunderbolt free-kick on 18 minutes was enough to give three precious points to Europe-chasing Saint-Etienne.
Between 1964 and 1983, the two clubs won 15 titles between them, nine going to Saint Etienne — Marseille and AS Monaco got two each and RC Strasbourg the other — as they dominated the French scene.
Saint-Etienne are currently fifth and hoping for Europa League qualification, but to avoid disruptive early qualifying rounds in August they are targeting fourth position, which they managed to secure last season.
Nantes, for their part, have re-established themselves as a mid-table side after promotion two seasons ago, their last French title coming in 2001.
French football is on something of a high right now with PSG hosting Barcelona tomorrow in a glamor UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg after a “generational” victory over Chelsea in the last-16.
Meanwhile, Monaco are also in the last eight and travel to Italian giants Juventus today in confident mood having won their last four away games in Ligue 1 and beaten Arsenal in the last round.
Elsewhere on Sunday, the 19-year-old rookie striker Said Benrahma’s 4th minute strike was enough to give OGC Nice a 1-0 win at Stade de Reims, while Lille grabbed a 1-0 win at Evian Thonon Gaillard after a generously awarded penalty, converted by Sofiane Boufal. Relegation-threatened Toulouse won 1-0 at home over Montpellier Herault, bottom side Racing Club de Lens slugged out a 0-0 draw with Lorient, while in the Brittany derby Stade Rennais beat 10-man En Avant de Guingamp 1-0.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and