Andre-Pierre Gignac ended Olympique de Marseille’s wait for a first victory under new coach Marcelo Bielsa as he scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 win at En Avant de Guingamp in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Later, early pacesetters Girondins de Bordeaux maintained their perfect start to the campaign under new boss Willy Sagnol with a come-from-behind 3-1 win at OGC Nice. That lifted them up to nine points, two clear of LOSC Lille Metropole, 2-0 winners over Lorient, with Stade Malherbe Caen, 2-0 winners at Stade de Reims, Montpellier Herault, who saw off Metz by the same scoreline, and AS Saint-Etienne, a point further back.
Saint-Etienne, the only other team with maximum points so far, were to host Stade Rennais yesterday, while last year’s runners-up AS Monaco, rock bottom after two matches this campaign, will go in search of their first points of the season at Nantes.
Photo: AFP
Marseille had made an underwhelming start to the new French campaign, taking a solitary point from their first two matches, but Gignac belatedly ignited OM’s season as he struck right after halftime to maintain his fine form.
The goal was Gignac’s third in as many matches, provisionally putting him alongside Saint-Etienne forward Mevlut Erding atop the scoring chart, and bumped Marseille into the top half of the table with Guingamp dropping one spot to 14th.
Despite the victory, Bielsa lamented his side’s inability to stretch their lead and put the game to bed earlier.
“The team defended well and started attacks well, but we lacked a bit of a cutting edge when we really threatened,” said Bielsa, who replaced interim boss Jose Anigo in the close season.
“We had chances and the score doesn’t reflect [our first-half performance],” the Argentine added.
Dimitri Payet was recalled to Marseille’s line-up, in place of Romain Alessandrini, by Bielsa and the winger began brightly as he slipped in Florian Thauvin, only for the latter to be repelled by Guingamp goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa.
Payet then tried his luck from the edge of the area, bending a curling effort narrowly over the crossbar as Marseille asserted their dominance early on.
A venomous long-range strike from Gignac forced Samassa to tip over on 20 minutes with Marseille’s sustained pressure leading to the striker heading just wide from a corner shortly after.
Guingamp defender Jeremy Sorbon was a relieved man after he diverted a Thauvin shot narrowly wide of the post, but the hosts were caught cold within seconds of the restart after halftime.
Payet was the architect as he floated a cross toward Gignac waiting at the far post and the striker drove a volley into the ground and across Samassa into the far corner to put Marseille ahead.
Reynald Lemaitre came closest to an equalizer for Guingamp 10 minutes from time, only for his fizzing half-volley to clip the crossbar while there was concern for Marseille as Gignac hobbled off with an apparent ankle injury just before the end.
Sagnol’s Bordeaux continued to impress, despite Shosts Nice going in front through Alexy Bosetti in the 11th minute.
However, a Cheick Diabate penalty, and goals from Nicolas Maurice-Belay and Gregory Sertic secured the former champions all three points.
SC Bastia put aside the loss of Brazilian striker Brandao, suspended for headbutting Paris Saint-Germain’s Thiago Motta last weekend, to beat Toulouse 1-0, the decisive strike a 24th minute penalty converted by Ryad Boudebouz.
On Friday, Paris Saint-Germain labored to a 0-0 draw with Evian Thonnon Gaillard in Annecy as Laurent Blanc’s side finished the match with 10 men following the second-half dismissal of Yohan Cabaye.
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