Midfielder Johan Micoud made a stylish return to Ligue 1 when Girondins Bordeaux continued their perfect start to the season with a 1-0 win at nine-man Lorient on Saturday.
Bordeaux are joint top with Nancy on six points from two matches after five-times champions Olympique Lyon were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Toulouse.
Lyon, which welcomed back several internationals from an extended break following the World Cup, took the lead in the 81st minute through France winger Florent Malouda.
PHOTO: AP
Brazilian Fabinho scored in injury time to grab a point for Toulouse -- which is looking to sign France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
"The draw is a fair result as we were not as strong as usual," said Lyon coach Gerard Houllier.
Former Werder Bremen playmaker Micoud, who joined Bordeaux in the summer and was suspended for the first match of the season, met a Julien Faubert cross to score the winner on the stroke of halftime.
Called up by coach Raymond Domenech, Faubert could make his France debut on Wednesday against Bosnia.
Micoud was one of four Bordeaux players booked, while Lorient had two players sent off.
Promoted Lorient were reduced to 10 men 20 minutes from time when defender Michael Ciani was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Micoud.
Midfielder Yazid Mansouri suffered the same fate after 85 minutes for another dangerous tackle on Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh.
Bordeaux hosts Lyon next weekend, and can open up a five-point lead on the five-time champion if it wins.
Last season, Lyon won the title comfortably, finishing 12 points ahead of Bordeaux. Coach Gerard Houllier's Lyon is looking to become the first team among Europe's top flight to win six straight titles.
Nancy recorded their second win with a 3-1 home victory over Sedan Ardennes with goals from Benjamin Gavanon, Gaston Curbelo and Tosin Dosunmu. All three goals came in the last 12 minutes, after Gregory Pujol scored early for Sedan.
Monaco are still without a point as they were beaten 2-1 at home by St Etienne.
Midfielder Gerard scored a consolation goal from the penalty spot after striker Pascal Feindouno and Frederic Piquionne had given Les Verts a two-goal lead.
Paris St Germain were held to an embarrassing goalless draw at promoted Valenciennes one week after losing 3-2 to Lorient.
Yesterday, France's World Cup star Franck Ribery was set to play for Marseille against Rennes. This week, Ribery said he was finally staying with Marseille, a week after saying he wanted to leave the club.
In yesterday's other match, Lille were due to host arch-rivals Lens.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
‘EVERYONE SAW’: The visitors were left fuming after Jules Kounde was fouled by Claudio Echeverri in the buildup to the winning goal and it went unpunished Spanish champions Barcelona on Monday fell to a damaging 2-1 defeat at Girona to leave them trailing Real Madrid by two points at the top of La Liga. Los Blancos beat Real Sociedad on Saturday to overtake the Catalans and Hansi Flick’s side could not defeat Girona in an gripping derby clash to reclaim the lead. Teenage star Lamine Yamal missed a penalty for Barcelona, who took the lead through defender Pau Cubarsi just before the hour mark. However, goals from Thomas Lemar and Fran Beltran helped Girona, 12th, mount an impressive comeback. “In the end Girona deserved it, they had a lot of
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Amanda Anisimova on Monday was handed a walkover into the last 16 of the Dubai Open after her opponent Barbora Krejcikova was forced to withdraw from the WTA 1000 event. The American second seed enters the round-of-16 against Janice Tjen without swinging a racket as two-time Grand Slam winner Krejcikova pulled out due to an issue with her left thigh. They became the seventh and eighth players to pull out, a list that includes the world top two Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. Tjen booked her meeting with Anisimova thanks to a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win in her round-of-32 match against 2021 US
RSS