Ligue 1 wrap: Marseille narrow gap on leaders Lille

Marseille closed to within a point of Ligue 1 leaders Lille with a 2-1 win at Montpellier on Sunday, while Lyon fell in the capital.

In a dress rehearsal for the Coupe de la Ligue final at the Stade de France on Saturday, OM came from a goal down to edge the hosts on Taye Taiwo’s late penalty.

Both teams had earlier gone down to 10 men in the ill-tempered clash, with Montpellier defender Abdelhamid El Kaoutari and OM forward Loic Remy handed red cards for an ugly spat deep in the second half.

Their suspensions mean the pair will automatically miss Saturday’s cup final.

The game broke open following a staid and chanceless first half, with Montpellier seizing control through striker Olivier Giroud in the 64th minute.

The towering forward turned the ball into the net off his left boot after being fed by Joris Marveaux.

But their lead would last all of five minutes before Andre-Pierre Gignac conjured up a wonder goal, having sprung the offside trap on Benoit Cheyrou’s long, defence-splitting bomb.

The drama kicked up a gear in the 78th minute after El Kaoutari gave away a penalty for tugging on Remy’s shirt.

The France international remonstrated with his marker, blows were exchanged and the pair were given their marching orders.

Taiwo kept his cool as he awaited the all-clear to take his spot kick, and four minutes later he sent OM into the lead and secured a vital three points for the defending champions.

Elsewhere, Paris-Saint Germain climbed to fourth on the table with a 1-0 win over title hopefuls Lyon.

PSG defender Zoumana Camara edged the hosts into the lead with a 76th-minute goal, his first of the campaign.

Lyon, who suffered just their second league clean sheet since September, remain third on the table but fall five points behind Marseille and six points off leaders Lille.

Finally, Arles’ relegation to the second division became a mathematical certainty as the bottom-placed side fell 1-0 at home to Valenciennes.

The visitors, without a win in their past seven league games and hovering above the drop zone by virtue of their superior goal difference, had top-scorer Gregory Pujol to thank after the striker’s rich vein of form continued with a 68th-minute winner.

Valenciennes rise to 13th on the table, three points clear of the relegation places, with seven games left in the season.

Sun 17 April, 2011

Ligue 1 wrap: Marseille narrow gap on leaders Lille

Marseille closed to within a point of Ligue 1 leaders Lille with a 2-1 win at Montpellier on Sunday, while Lyon fell in the capital.

In a dress rehearsal for the Coupe de la Ligue final at the Stade de France on Saturday, OM came from a goal down to edge the hosts on Taye Taiwo’s late penalty.

Both teams had earlier gone down to 10 men in the ill-tempered clash, with Montpellier defender Abdelhamid El Kaoutari and OM forward Loic Remy handed red cards for an ugly spat deep in the second half.

Their suspensions mean the pair will automatically miss Saturday’s cup final.

The game broke open following a staid and chanceless first half, with Montpellier seizing control through striker Olivier Giroud in the 64th minute.

The towering forward turned the ball into the net off his left boot after being fed by Joris Marveaux.

But their lead would last all of five minutes before Andre-Pierre Gignac conjured up a wonder goal, having sprung the offside trap on Benoit Cheyrou’s long, defence-splitting bomb.

The drama kicked up a gear in the 78th minute after El Kaoutari gave away a penalty for tugging on Remy’s shirt.

The France international remonstrated with his marker, blows were exchanged and the pair were given their marching orders.

Taiwo kept his cool as he awaited the all-clear to take his spot kick, and four minutes later he sent OM into the lead and secured a vital three points for the defending champions.

Elsewhere, Paris-Saint Germain climbed to fourth on the table with a 1-0 win over title hopefuls Lyon.

PSG defender Zoumana Camara edged the hosts into the lead with a 76th-minute goal, his first of the campaign.

Lyon, who suffered just their second league clean sheet since September, remain third on the table but fall five points behind Marseille and six points off leaders Lille.

Finally, Arles’ relegation to the second division became a mathematical certainty as the bottom-placed side fell 1-0 at home to Valenciennes.

The visitors, without a win in their past seven league games and hovering above the drop zone by virtue of their superior goal difference, had top-scorer Gregory Pujol to thank after the striker’s rich vein of form continued with a 68th-minute winner.

Valenciennes rise to 13th on the table, three points clear of the relegation places, with seven games left in the season.

Sun 17 April, 2011

La Liga wrap: Barca, Villarreal record narrow wins

Lionel Messi’s goal glut continued as Barcelona opened up a 10-point lead in La Liga with a 1-0 win at Valencia on Wednesday.

Messi, who has scored 42 times at club level across all competitions this season, tucked a 77th-minute goal past Valencia goalkeeper Vincente Guaita to leave Real Madrid trailing by 10 points on the Spanish table.

Valencia, meanwhile, fall 20 points clear of the league leaders in third place after seeing their 11-game unbeaten run brought to an end.

Barca’s win, their 23rd straight unbeaten result in La Liga, was Pep Guardiola’s first at the Mestalla as manager.

Messi was uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal, failing to convert three gilt-edged chances, each from within eight yards, and spraying another over the crossbar.

Roberto Soldado and Pablo Hernandez both shot wide for Valencia before Messi finally found his range, tapping wide of the Guaita after Adriano ran down the left and cut inside for the Argentine marksman.

Elswhere, Villarreal kept in the hunt for the top three with a 1-0 home win over strugglers Hercules.

Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi did the damage for the hosts, beating the offside trap with a terrific run down the middle and side-footing past Hercules custodian Calatayud in the 22nd minute.

Atletico Bilbao’s freefall continued with a fourth straight loss, this time on the road to Real Zaragoza.

Llorente put the visitors ahead in the 18th minute before second-half strikes to Jiri Jarosik (51) and Ikechukwu Uche (56) saw Bilbao plummet to sixth on the table, two points clear of fifth-placed Espanyol.

Atletico Madrid moved within three points of the Europa League places with a 1-1 draw at Getafe thanks to Elias’ 82nd-minute equaliser, while Levante drew 1-1 at Real Sociedad and Osasuna fought out a goal-less draw with Deportivo.

Thu 3 March, 2011

La Liga wrap: Barca, Villarreal record narrow wins

Lionel Messi’s goal glut continued as Barcelona opened up a 10-point lead in La Liga with a 1-0 win at Valencia on Wednesday.

Messi, who has scored 42 times at club level across all competitions this season, tucked a 77th-minute goal past Valencia goalkeeper Vincente Guaita to leave Real Madrid trailing by 10 points on the Spanish table.

Valencia, meanwhile, fall 20 points clear of the league leaders in third place after seeing their 11-game unbeaten run brought to an end.

Barca’s win, their 23rd straight unbeaten result in La Liga, was Pep Guardiola’s first at the Mestalla as manager.

Messi was uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal, failing to convert three gilt-edged chances, each from within eight yards, and spraying another over the crossbar.

Roberto Soldado and Pablo Hernandez both shot wide for Valencia before Messi finally found his range, tapping wide of the Guaita after Adriano ran down the left and cut inside for the Argentine marksman.

Elswhere, Villarreal kept in the hunt for the top three with a 1-0 home win over strugglers Hercules.

Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi did the damage for the hosts, beating the offside trap with a terrific run down the middle and side-footing past Hercules custodian Calatayud in the 22nd minute.

Atletico Bilbao’s freefall continued with a fourth straight loss, this time on the road to Real Zaragoza.

Llorente put the visitors ahead in the 18th minute before second-half strikes to Jiri Jarosik (51) and Ikechukwu Uche (56) saw Bilbao plummet to sixth on the table, two points clear of fifth-placed Espanyol.

Atletico Madrid moved within three points of the Europa League places with a 1-1 draw at Getafe thanks to Elias’ 82nd-minute equaliser, while Levante drew 1-1 at Real Sociedad and Osasuna fought out a goal-less draw with Deportivo.

Thu 3 March, 2011