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PSG And Marseille Both Suffer Sunday Slips
Lyon were the main winners in Ligue 1 today as near-rivals PSG and Marseille both failed to win their home matches against weaker opposition, drawing against Valenciennes and losing to Nancy respectively.
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Dec 21, 2008 5:52:50 PM
Olympique de Marseille 0-3 AS Nancy-Lorraine
Olympique de Marseille’s uncertain record at the Stade Vélodrome as they were surprisingly hammered by an ultra-efficient Nancy side. A double from Youssouf Hadji (pictured) gave the guests a perfect start, which was added to in the second half by Issiar Dia.
The low of being knocked out of the UEFA Cup was soon pushed to one side by a Nancy side that would go into the half time interval two goals ahead of their hosts.
Pablo Correa’s side had to endure a difficult opening quarter of an hour as Marseille forced the ball into the net only for the assistant referee’s flag to deny Benoit Cheyrou, who was smartly onto the rebound after Baky Koné had shot straight at Gennero Bracigliano.
The visiting goalkeeper would be called into action five minutes later as enterprising play from Koné saw the diminutive forward centre for Karim Ziani, whose side-footed volley was terrifically blocked by a diving save.
Between these efforts, the lively Hadji had a low drive well captured by Steve Mandanda in the home goal. As Nancy’s defence continued to stabilise, Hadji would become an increasingly influential offensively. Indeed, two goals from the Moroccan international in a tremendous five minute burst would put ASNL in a commanding position.
OM have been insistent that they do not need additional defensive strength this season, however, questions will be raised by the manner in which they conceded both goals. A simple Benjamin Gavanon free-kick was fired towards the back post by Jonathan Brison only for Hadji to steal in and thump home.
The hosts had no chance to respond before Nancy had added to their lead. The home defence seemed to freeze as Brison’s pass was angled towards the offside Helder. Cleverly, the Brazilian did not make a move towards the ball, allowing Hadji to break onto the ball from a legal position and fire home.
As the second half began Marseille, as expected, started explosively. Cheyrou continued to provide a lively presence in midfield, centring for Koné, who, from a totally unmarked position, managed to miss the target.
Incredibly, after withstanding this barrage, Nancy moved further ahead. Red hot forward Dia was the scorer as he crashed a shot past Mandanda from 25 yards after slackness from Ziani.
As they were so often when at their best last season, Nancy were stoical defensively and rarely allowed Marseille a serious sight of Bracigliano’s goal. Even when they did have a sniff, Mamadou Samassa, who had come off the bench, could only find the post as OM slipped to their third home loss of the season.
Paris Saint-Germain 2-2 Valenciennes FC
Last gasp Valenciennes secured a valuable point in their battle against the drop as they snatched a late equaliser against title chasing PSG.
As expected, Valenciennes travelled to the Parc des Princes and simply shut the game down. It would take PSG some time to adjust to this style of game as they threatened to be caught in the opening ten minutes of the game. VA’s only fit striker, Grégory Pujol, managed to get in behind the home defence but was flagged offside before he turned provider as a quick counter led to Djamel Belmadi forcing a fine save out of Mickael Landreau.
This would prove to be Antoine Kombouaré’s side only real chance of the first half. Guillaume Hoarau had the ball in the net only seconds later but was denied correctly by an offside flag. The former Le Havre striker was not to be denied as he added his 11 goal of the season with a fine finish from the penalty spot.
Hard work would characterise both sides’ approach to this game but this simply served to bog the match down in the centre of the field for much of the first half as either side struggled to make much of an impact in front of goal.
Only seconds after the break, Valenciennes, filled with vigour and determination drew level. PSG are generally reliable defensively but fell asleep when Rudy Mater was played through to beat Landreau.
Immediately the hosts began to muster a response. Ludovic Giuly forced a save from Nicolas Penneteau while Jérémy Clément would shoot narrowly wide of goal. Hoarau then had his chance to regain the lead for the hosts but placed an effort agonisingly past the post.
Stéphane Sessegnon has been on fire in recent weeks and would be the catalyst for PSG’s second. A powerful, low drive could only be pushed clear by Penneteau, who would not anticipate the pace of Jérôme Rothen onto the rebound to shoot home. The Benin international thought he had added a third to les Parisiens’ tally only moments later as he shot into the net via the crossbar, however, the strike was disallowed.
Late drama was to follow as Grégory Pujol’s cunning back-heel found the post of Landreau’s goal. Alert to the possibilities, left-back Siaka Tiéné was sharply onto the rebound to shoot home the equaliser.
Robin Bairner, Goal.com
Olympique de Marseille’s uncertain record at the Stade Vélodrome as they were surprisingly hammered by an ultra-efficient Nancy side. A double from Youssouf Hadji (pictured) gave the guests a perfect start, which was added to in the second half by Issiar Dia.
The low of being knocked out of the UEFA Cup was soon pushed to one side by a Nancy side that would go into the half time interval two goals ahead of their hosts.
Pablo Correa’s side had to endure a difficult opening quarter of an hour as Marseille forced the ball into the net only for the assistant referee’s flag to deny Benoit Cheyrou, who was smartly onto the rebound after Baky Koné had shot straight at Gennero Bracigliano.
The visiting goalkeeper would be called into action five minutes later as enterprising play from Koné saw the diminutive forward centre for Karim Ziani, whose side-footed volley was terrifically blocked by a diving save.
Between these efforts, the lively Hadji had a low drive well captured by Steve Mandanda in the home goal. As Nancy’s defence continued to stabilise, Hadji would become an increasingly influential offensively. Indeed, two goals from the Moroccan international in a tremendous five minute burst would put ASNL in a commanding position.
OM have been insistent that they do not need additional defensive strength this season, however, questions will be raised by the manner in which they conceded both goals. A simple Benjamin Gavanon free-kick was fired towards the back post by Jonathan Brison only for Hadji to steal in and thump home.
The hosts had no chance to respond before Nancy had added to their lead. The home defence seemed to freeze as Brison’s pass was angled towards the offside Helder. Cleverly, the Brazilian did not make a move towards the ball, allowing Hadji to break onto the ball from a legal position and fire home.
As the second half began Marseille, as expected, started explosively. Cheyrou continued to provide a lively presence in midfield, centring for Koné, who, from a totally unmarked position, managed to miss the target.
Incredibly, after withstanding this barrage, Nancy moved further ahead. Red hot forward Dia was the scorer as he crashed a shot past Mandanda from 25 yards after slackness from Ziani.
As they were so often when at their best last season, Nancy were stoical defensively and rarely allowed Marseille a serious sight of Bracigliano’s goal. Even when they did have a sniff, Mamadou Samassa, who had come off the bench, could only find the post as OM slipped to their third home loss of the season.
Paris Saint-Germain 2-2 Valenciennes FC
Last gasp Valenciennes secured a valuable point in their battle against the drop as they snatched a late equaliser against title chasing PSG.
As expected, Valenciennes travelled to the Parc des Princes and simply shut the game down. It would take PSG some time to adjust to this style of game as they threatened to be caught in the opening ten minutes of the game. VA’s only fit striker, Grégory Pujol, managed to get in behind the home defence but was flagged offside before he turned provider as a quick counter led to Djamel Belmadi forcing a fine save out of Mickael Landreau.
This would prove to be Antoine Kombouaré’s side only real chance of the first half. Guillaume Hoarau had the ball in the net only seconds later but was denied correctly by an offside flag. The former Le Havre striker was not to be denied as he added his 11 goal of the season with a fine finish from the penalty spot.
Hard work would characterise both sides’ approach to this game but this simply served to bog the match down in the centre of the field for much of the first half as either side struggled to make much of an impact in front of goal.
Only seconds after the break, Valenciennes, filled with vigour and determination drew level. PSG are generally reliable defensively but fell asleep when Rudy Mater was played through to beat Landreau.
Immediately the hosts began to muster a response. Ludovic Giuly forced a save from Nicolas Penneteau while Jérémy Clément would shoot narrowly wide of goal. Hoarau then had his chance to regain the lead for the hosts but placed an effort agonisingly past the post.
Stéphane Sessegnon has been on fire in recent weeks and would be the catalyst for PSG’s second. A powerful, low drive could only be pushed clear by Penneteau, who would not anticipate the pace of Jérôme Rothen onto the rebound to shoot home. The Benin international thought he had added a third to les Parisiens’ tally only moments later as he shot into the net via the crossbar, however, the strike was disallowed.
Late drama was to follow as Grégory Pujol’s cunning back-heel found the post of Landreau’s goal. Alert to the possibilities, left-back Siaka Tiéné was sharply onto the rebound to shoot home the equaliser.
Robin Bairner, Goal.com
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