Marseille beats PSG; 15 arrested

An outbreak of swine flu in PSG had forced the match to be postponed, which set off rioting between the fans in downtown Marseille. Security was stepped up on Friday and police arrested 15 fans before the rivals clashed at Stade Velodrome; 11 Marseille fans for throwing objects at buses carrying PSG fans and verbally assaulting police, two more for failing to comply with police orders, and two PSG fans when they arrived in town.

They missed seeing Heinze, who played three seasons at PSG, score his first league goal of the season in the 25th minute, heading home Fabrice Abriel's free kick past goalkeeper Gregory Coupet.

Marseille moved up to fourth place in the standings, within three points of leader Bordeaux.

“We had to win to reduce the gap,” Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said. “We stuck to the basics tonight.”

Paris Saint-Germain, which was handed its third loss in four games, stood in 13th, six points behind Marseille.

Defending champion Bordeaux will host Valenciennes on Saturday hoping to bounce back after a surprising 2-0 loss at Lille in the previous round, while second-place Lyon travels to last-place Grenoble.

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc will be without playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, who picked up a groin injury during France's 1-1 draw against Ireland on Wednesday that qualified the team for next year's World Cup.

Midfielder Gregory Sertic and defenders Henrique and Franck Jurietti will also miss the match.

On Saturday, it's also: Lens vs. Nancy; Rennes vs. Le Mans and Auxerre vs. Monaco.

Following a strong start to the season, promoted Montpellier failed to build on the momentum and will try to secure its first win in four matches when it hosts Lille.

Toulouse travels at Nice and struggling Saint-Etienne hosts Lorient in Sunday's other games.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email