Rennes were staring at what appeared to be certain defeat against Lille on Sunday until two goals in injury time earned them an unexpected 2-1 win.
Rennes fell behind to a 23rd minute goal from Lille midfielder Yohan Cabaye but the Brittany side’s never-say-die attitude paid off when they succeeded in turning the match on its head in time added on.
Emerson’s 90th minute own goal drew them level, then young striker Moussa Sow, set up by a searching freekick blasted upfield by keeper Nicolas Douchez, found the 93rd minute winner from near the penalty spot.
In Sunday’s other early game, Nice climbed to fifth with a 1-0 defeat of Auxerre. The Cote d’Azur club notched up their second straight win courtesy of Ala Eddine Yahia’s 29th minute goal.
Bordeaux beat Nantes 2-0 in Sunday’s late kick-off. Laurent Blanc’s side took an early lead after Nantes keeper Tony Heurtebis collided with David Bellion with the referee awarding a penalty. Fernando Cavenaghi made no mistake with his spot kick.
Bordeaux then killed the game off when Fernando hit home Wendel’s 86th minute corner from the right by the near post.
The result lifted Bordeaux into third, one point adrift of leaders Marseille and Lyon.
Saturday’s program was overshadowed by a coach crash which left two Marseille fans dead and four seriously injured. A minute’s silence was held at the former European champions’ fixture at Le Havre in tribute to the victims of the accident earlier in the day involving a supporters’ bus.
The southcoast giants beat the northcoast side 1-0, the only goal coming from a Boudewijn Zenden freekick.
Marseille manager Eric Gerets told a post match press conference: “There are games when you can speak about soccer. There are matches where a win makes you feel good. But today is definitely not one of those days.”
“We’ve lost two players. They weren’t on the pitch but they were our 12th man. And that hurts,” Gerets said.
The win lifted Gerets’ men on to seven points and top of the table on goal difference from Lyon, who beat Grenoble 2-0 in Saturday’s late kick off. Le Mans in fourth ran out 1-0 winners over Saint Etienne with fifth-placed Valenciennes esarning a 3-1 home victory against Lorient.
Paris Saint Germain fielded new signing Mateja Kezman for their away trip to Sochaux.
Mevlut Erding put the home side in front with a 49th-minute penalty only for Stephane Sessegnon to level just after the hour.
Caen came away from their visit to Monaco also with a 1-1 draw. Toulouse’s trip to Nancy resulted in a goalless draw.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
RSS