Peguy Luyindula scored the only goal of the game as
Paris
St.
Germain
brought a controversial week to an end with a much-needed 1-0 win at Auxerre on Sunday to ease the club's relegation fears.
Luyindula headed home in the 49th minute from a cross from Jerome Rothen to clinch the three points, which will lift some of the pressure on coach Paul Le Guen.
Rothen had been the target of some vehement fan protests throughout the week and there was simmering tension before the game with riot police firing tear gas to disperse PSG fans.
The win kept PSG just one place above the relegation zone.
At the other end of the table, Bordeaux drew 1-1 with Nice to stay third, nine points behind leaders Lyon.
Marseille warmed up for today's do-or-die Champions League clash against Liverpool with a 2-0 win over Monaco on Saturday.
The win, their fifth of the season, also eased Marseille's relegation fears.
Central defender Julien Rodriguez, in the 53rd minute, and skipper Lorik Cana (70), both scored headed goals.
A win today would put Marseille into the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
Coach Eris Gerets praised the support his team received and said their backing will prove crucial at the Stade Velodrome against Liverpool.
Meanwhile, six-time champions Lyon, who travel to face Rangers tomorrow in another must-win Champions League clash, slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Caen.
The loss cut their lead to four points with second-place Nancy unable to take full advantage by playing to a dull 0-0 draw at Valenciennes.
With one eye on the tricky trip to Glasgow, Lyon coach Alain Perrin put vital players Juninho, Sydney Govou and Karim Benzema on the bench and handed Nadir Belhadj, Abdul Kader Keita and Milan Baros starting places.
Caen took full advantage of the champions' uncertainty with Yoan Gouffran scoring the only goal of the game after 17 minutes after a misunderstanding between Sebastien Squillaci and Cleber Anderson.
Juninho, Govou and Benzema were all introduced into the action late in the game but were unable to prevent Lyon from slipping to their fourth defeat of the season.
Juninho said that Lyon had great respect for Rangers who won the first meeting between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Le Mans leapt into third place with a 3-1 win at Lens and are now four points behind Nancy.
Bottom club Metz, with just one win all season, were 2-0 losers at sixth-placed Saint-Etienne.
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TSG (Taiwan Steel Group) Tainan won the Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL) title for a fifth straight season on Sunday, while the Kaohsiung Attackers a week earlier emerged as champions for the first time in the women’s league. In the final round of the TFPL, TSG rested most of their important players for the home match at Yonghua Stadium in Tainan. They had 46 points prior to the game and were already guaranteed to finish in first place. Their opponent, Hang Yuan FC, were led by midfielder Chen Po-ying, who scored two goals, first with a curving shot just inside
RSS