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Sports

Published: Thursday May 14, 2009 MYT 7:56:00 AM
Updated: Thursday May 14, 2009 MYT 8:00:56 AM

Marseille and Bordeaux stay level in French league

PARIS (AP) - Yoann Gourcuff's fifth goal in four games helped Bordeaux win 2-1 at Valenciennes and stay level with leader Marseille atop the French league standings on Wednesday with three rounds remaining.

Marseille beat host Nice 2-0 to stay on course for its first French title since 1992.

Both teams had 71 points but Marseille had a better goal difference by two than Bordeaux.

With seven minutes remaining, Bordeaux defender Mathieu Chalme crossed from the right and France playmaker Gourcuff slung himself forward for a spectacular diving header that took his league tally to 11 goals, a day before he is set to open negotiations to join Bordeaux permanently from AC Milan.

Valenciennes finished with nine players as Siaka Tiene and Luigi Pieroni were sent off inside the last 10 minutes.

Bordeaux fell behind to Gael Danic's 22nd-minute penalty before Fernando Menegazzo equalized in the 38th for coach Laurent Blanc's team.

At Nice, Mamadou Niang's 11th league goal of the season in 24 games gave Marseille the perfect start after 27 minutes at Stade du Ray.

The Senegal striker showed great composure after good work from midfielder Benoit Cheyrou, who won the ball by tackling Olivier Echouafni on the edge of the penalty area and then passed it to Niang.

With his back to goal, Niang still had much to do, but he spun brilliantly to flummox both Onyekachi Apam and Vincent Hognon then struck a fierce angled shot that gave goalkeeper David Ospina no chance.

Brandao made it 2-0 in the 60th when he headed in Taye Taiwo's cross after a quick break led by winger Hatem Ben Arfa on the left. Marseille has a crucial match on Sunday against defending champion Lyon, while Bordeaux hosts Le Mans on Saturday.

Lyon has all but renounced its bid to win an eighth straight title but is desperate to hold onto third place and a spot in the Champions League qualifying round ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, which won 1-0 at Le Mans.

Lyon has 64 points, while PSG has 63 and next hosts Auxerre.

At Le Mans, PSG scored in the 17th minute when Stephane Sessegnon broke down the right and Mateja Kezman reacted sharply to turn in his cross at the near post.

Elsewhere, it was: Auxerre 2, Grenoble 0; Le Havre 2, Saint-Etienne 4; Nancy 2, Lorient 2; Rennes 1, Caen 0; Sochaux 3, Monaco 0, and Toulouse 0, Lille 0.

Saint-Etienne and Sochaux moved out of the relegation zone, but Caen dropped down to 18th spot just above Nantes and Le Havre.

After Araujo Ilan put Saint-Etienne ahead, Le Havre bounced back on goals from Mamadou Diallo and Massamba Sambou to lead 2-1 after just 17 minutes.

But midfielder Mustapha Bayal Sall equalized for Saint-Etienne in the 47th, striker Kevin Mirallas pounced in the 70th and Emmanuel Riviere scored in injury time to seal a crucial win for Les Verts. Le Havre was relegated.

Sochaux went ahead early on through Marvin Martin and an own goal from defender Francois Modesto in the 47th made it 2-0 to the home side. Vaclav Sverkos bagged his eighth goal in 16 games since joining in the January transfer window to complete the scoring.

Rennes bounced back from its upset loss to second-division Guingamp in Saturday's French Cup final when captain Petter Hansson headed home in the 61st.

At the bottom, Le Havre has 24 points, while Nantes was in 19th place with 33 points and Caen has 34 - two less than Saint-Etienne and Sochaux.

At Auxerre, Poland striker Irineusz Jelen netted in each half to improve to 12 goals. Nancy went ahead in the 27th minute when Lorient's Rafik Saifi scored an own goal, and although Nancy had defender Abdeslam Ouaddou sent off shortly after, it scored again in the 48th when Joel Sami got his first goal for the club.

Kevin Gameiro pulled a goal back for Lorient in the 53rd, and added another in the 82nd to earn Lorient a point.

On Tuesday, Jean II Makoun scored twice for Lyon in its 3-0 home win over Nantes to end a four-match losing streak. - AP

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