
PSG misses chance to move into third in French league |
PARIS (AP) -- Yoann Gourcuff scored his 10th league goal of the season Sunday to help Bordeaux beat Sochaux 3-0 at home and move level on points with Marseille at the top of the French championship with four matches remaining. The France midfielder headed in Mathieu Chalme's cross from the right in the 14th minute to extend Bordeaux's lead after Gregory Sertic opened the scoring in the seventh minute, controlling Chalme's pass with his back to goal and curling a shot past goalkeeper Jeremy Gavanon for his first career goal. Gourcuff, who is on loan this season from AC Milan, almost created a goal for substitute David Bellion in the 87th, but Bellion's shot clipped the crossbar, before Marouane Chamakh headed in Bordeaux's third goal deep in injury time. Bordeaux joins Marseille on 68 points after 34 rounds, but Marseille just tops the league on goal difference with + 27 goals, compared to + 26. "My squad will never give up and if we keep going like this we will be rewarded at the end of the season," Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc said. Marseille, which drew 2-2 at home to Toulouse on Saturday, still has to face fourth-place Lyon, which only has an outside chance of clinching an eighth straight title and must now give priority to sealing a Champions League place. "Nothing can stop us now," Chamakh said after Bordeaux's seventh straight win. "We have a great squad." Earlier, Paris Saint-Germain missed the chance to move above Lyon and into third place in the French league when it lost 1-0 at home to Rennes, with defender Mamadou Sakho scoring an own goal midway through the second half. Rennes scored in the 66th minute when Jerome Leroy's cross from the left was turned into his own net by Sakho, with goalkeeper Mickael Landreau unable to react quickly enough to stop it. The defeat leaves PSG in fourth place with 60 points, one point behind third-place Lyon, which had lost 2-0 at Valenciennes on Saturday to hand PSG its chance to leapfrog into the Champions League qualifying slot. Also Sunday, Nantes suffered a setback in its fight against relegation when it lost 2-1 at home to last-place Le Havre. Nantes took the lead in the 23rd minute through Christian Bekamenga, but Le Havre hit back with goals from Mamadou Diallo and Florian Marange. The loss keeps Nantes in 18th place and in the relegation zone with 33 points. Le Havre, with 24 points, has only a slender chance of avoiding relegation to the second division. In Saturday's other results, it was: Caen 3, Le Mans 1; Grenoble 0, Nice 0; Lorient 3, Lille 1; Monaco 0, Auxerre 1; and Saint-Etienne 0, Nancy 0. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ![]() | ![]()
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