Andre-Pierre Gignac scored from the penalty spot early in the second half for second-place Olympique de Marseille to beat Evian Thonon Gaillard 1-0 and keep the pressure on French league leader Olympique Lyonnais on Saturday.
The penalty was awarded in the 49th minute after veteran midfielder Cedric Barbosa barged into winger Dimitri Payet. France striker Gignac drove a low shot under the body of goalkeeper Benjamin Leroy for his 14th league goal.
Marseille wasted an early chance to go ahead when defender Brice Djadjedje missed the target with a free header in the 10th minute, after Gignac picked him out with a cross to the far post.
Gignac’s goal settled a tense match in which Payet was Marseille’s most impressive performer, and he went close shortly before the break with a rising drive from the right that just cleared the crossbar.
Midfielder Alaixys Romao missed the chance to make it 2-0 with 15 minutes remaining, blazing over from close range after Payet’s free kick caused confusion in Evian’s defense.
LOSC Lille Metropole could not bounce back after two consecutive losses and were held to 1-1 at Nantes.
The visitors opened the scoring in the first half after Kevin Koubemba’s pass in the back of a lethargic defense deflected into midfielder Jonathan Delaplace’s path. Delaplace fired home with a powerful strike from close range.
However, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo leveled 10 minutes from time with a header from a corner.
After an awful start to the season, SC Bastia continued on the road of recovery with a 1-1 draw at struggling Racing Club de Lens, extending their unbeaten league run to six matches.
Sixth-place Montpellier Herault were held to a goalless draw at Lorient; striker Aleksandar Pesic scored his fifth goal this season to give Toulouse a 1-0 win over Stade de Reims; and last-place Metz failed to win for an 11th straight league match in a 0-0 draw with OGC Nice.
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GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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