Marseille back on track, as Toulouse miss out

PARIS (AFP) –

Bordeaux’ goalkeeper French Cedric Carrasso reacts after his team scored a goal during the French L1 football match Bordeaux (FCGB) vs Toulouse (TFC) at the Chaban Delmas Stadium in Bordeaux, southwestern France. Toulouse missed a chance to go top of Ligue 1 on Sunday as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Bordeaux.

Toulouse missed a chance to go top of Ligue 1 on Sunday as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Bordeaux, while both Ayew brothers were on target as Marseille won 2-0 at Ajaccio to draw level on points with leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

Lyon also closed the gap at the top after they beat Bastia 5-2 in a highly-entertaining encounter at Stade Gerland.

Toulouse could have moved to the summit of the table had they beaten Bordeaux by a two-goal margin, but Yoan Gouffran‘s 87th-minute strike ensured that Alain Casanova’s side left Stade Chaban Delmas empty-handed.

Meanwhile, victory for Marseille snapped their three-match winless streak, lifting them on to 22 points from 10 matches, and although their inferior goal difference sees them still trail PSG, Elie Baup’s side have a game in hand on their arch-rivals.

Lyon are third on 21 points having also played 10 games.

PSG saw their unbeaten start to the domestic campaign come to a halt on Saturday, as they were beaten 2-1 at home by Saint-Etienne in a game that also saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic dismissed for a dangerous challenge on goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier.

Winners of three of their past four, Toulouse were indebted to Ali Ahamada for keeping them in the match as he made a string of fine saves to frustrate Bordeaux, while the visitors failed to even register a single shot on target.

With a stalemate seemingly on the cards, the young keeper’s resistance was finally broken three minutes from the end as Gouffran neatly tucked away Jaroslav Plasil’s slide-rule pass to hand Bordeaux their first win in four outings.

Lyon’s Belgian midfielder Steed Malbranque (L) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match Lyon vs Bastia at the Gerland stadium in Lyon. Lyon won 5-2.

Earlier, Marseille were far from their best against an Ajaccio outfit that had been unbeaten in Corsica since last December, but the result will undoubtedly have provided them with some comfort after taking just one point from a possible nine.

Andre Ayew accounted for Marseille’s first league goal since October 7, as he nodded Charles Kabore’s looping header beyond Guillermo Ochoa on 55 minutes after the hosts failed to clear their lines.

Jordan Ayew, who replaced the ineffective Loic Remy midway through the second half, then secured the points two minutes from time when he slotted low into the corner following Mathieu Valbuena’s cutback.

Lyon meanwhile were the victors in a seven-goal thriller that saw both sides finish with just 10 players.

Goals from Maxime Gonalons and Alexandre Lacazette gave the home side a two-goal advantage after 26 minutes, but Bastia were back on level terms shortly after.

Ajaccio’s Franco-Algerian midfielder Carl Medjani (L) vies with Marseille’s Ghanaian forward Jordan Ayew during the French L1 football match Ajaccio (ACA) vs Olympique de Marseille (OM) at the Francois Coty stadium in Ajaccio, Corsica. Brothers Andre and Jordan Ayew were on target as Marseille snapped a three-match winless streak on Sunday with a 2-0 win.

Wahbi Khazri’s precise finish pulled Frederic Hantz’s newly promoted side to within one before Lyon suffered a double blow as Dejan Lovren was dismissed for hauling down Florian Thauvin in the box with the evergreen Jerome Rothen converting the resulting penalty.

Bastia then found themselves reduced to 10 men on 55 minutes as Fethi Harek conceded a penalty and collected a second yellow card in the process for a foul on Lacazette.

Lisandro Lopez slotted home from the spot to put back Lyon back in front before stoppage-time strikes from Jimmy Briand and Steed Malbranque, the latter another penalty, gave the scoreline a somewhat flattering look.