Ligue 1 - Round-up: Marseille thrash Grenoble

Eurosport - Sun, 12 Apr 23:17:00 2009

A Taye Taiwo double helped Marseille go top of Ligue 1 with a 4-1 home win over mid-table Grenoble.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Ligue 1 Marseille-Grenoble Taiwo - 0

Marseille have 61 points with seven games remaining, while Lyon missed a chance to re-take top spot as they drew with Monaco.

Bordeaux, the overnight leaders after leapfrogging Lyon on goal difference thanks to a 2-0 win at Auxerre on Saturday, are third two points adrift.

"Our first half was a disaster but after the break we showed our true nature and played a faster and more open game," said Marseille coach Eric Gerets.

"The players also proved they were determined to succeed and to score four goals was a good thing because it could be important at the end of the season but we have to stay cautious because all the games will be difficult from now on."

Toulouse, Lille and Paris St Germain are still in contention on 56 points in fourth to sixth place respectively.

Toulouse defeated Nantes 1-0 on Saturday courtesy of Ligue 1 top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac's 19th goal of the season, while Lille and PSG shared the points in a 0-0 draw on Sunday.

In a packed Stade Velodrome, Marseille had to wait until the 52nd minute for their opener which came when Nigerian defender Taiwo converted a penalty after Laurent Battles brought down Mathieu Valbuena.

Brazilian central defender Hilton made it two seven minutes later, heading home a Valbuena corner.

Taiwo sealed Marseille's victory when he blasted in a 25-metre free kick in the 65th and Brazilian striker Brandao added another one minute from time.

Laurent Courtois scored Grenoble's consolation goal four minutes into added time.

Seven-times champions Lyon had topped the table after every round of matches since mid-September, but lost top spot after being held to a 2-2 draw at home to mid-table Monaco.

The first goal that led to Lyon's downfall was scored in the 34th minute by Croatian midfielder Jerko Leko, who was perfectly set up by a backpass from South Korean Park Chu-young after a swift counter-attack.

Lyon's France striker Karim Benzema hit the woodwork five minutes later and the champions had another chance on the hour when Monaco keeper Stephane Ruffier blocked Jean Makoun's header.

Five minutes later, Lyon got back into the game when Cris headed home a Juninho long-range free-kick but just a minute later Colombian striker Juan Pablo Pino had put Monaco back in front.

Lyon levelled nine minutes from time when Frederic Piquionne's scissor kick went in after a scramble in the penalty area. They pushed hard to snatch a victory but Monaco's defence held tight.

Reuters

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  1. OM better win ligue1
    im sick and tired of lyon

    From dan.neagu, on Mon 13 Apr 3:03AM
  2. Allez OM. All the way

    From tom h, on Sun 12 Apr 11:43PM
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