Cesc Fabregas struck the winner for struggling Monaco in a much-needed 2-1 home win against Toulouse in the French league on Saturday.
The former Chelsea, Barcelona and Arsenal midfielder latched onto a loose ball in the penalty area following good work down the left from Gelson Martins, and thumped the ball in just under the crossbar midway through the second half.
Fabregas was signed by his former Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry, but Henry was sacked as coach last week to pave the way for Leonardo Jardim’s return after he was replaced in October by Henry.
Jardim was about to make a substitution when Fabregas scored, and the Portuguese coach pumped his fists in delight. With good reason, too, since the win moved eight-time French champion and former Champions League finalist Monaco up one place into 18th and the promotion-relegation spot.
Russia midfielder Aleksandr Golovin put Monaco ahead in the 16th minute, only for towering Toulouse center half Christopher Jullien to equalize four minutes later.
It was 2017 French champion Monaco’s first home win of the season.
MARSEILLE MISERY
Mario Balotelli made his first start in attack since joining Marseille , but it made little difference as the defense crumbled again in losing at Reims 2-1.
Balotelli scored a brilliant header after coming off the bench in a home loss to Lille last weekend, but the Italy striker was kept quiet this time and replaced with about 20 minutes left.
Reims was 2-0 up when forward Clinton NJie’s looping header got Marseille back into the game; but his 86th-minute goal came too late for last season’s Europa League runner-up.
This latest defeat increases the pressure on Marseille coach Rudi Garcia, whose objective was to secure a Champions League place next season.
Instead, his side is in 10th place and conceding too many goals.
OTHER MATCHES
Amiens dropped down to 19th on goal difference after losing at Rennes 1-0. Defender Mehdi Zeffane grabbed a late winner with a clever flick inside the front post after being set up by striker M’Baye Niang’s neat footwork down the left.
Also, striker Stephane Bahoken netted his seventh league goal as Angers beat Dijon 1-0 at home.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Unbeaten league leader Paris Saint-Germain faces one of its toughest tests of the season at Lyon, which is challenging Lille for second place and automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League.
Lyon can ill afford to lose, because defeat would leave it trailing second-placed Lille by six points.
Also, Nimes faces southern rival Montpellier.
Dutch portal Football World Rankings released its latest ranking of the top managers in the world of soccer based on their results over the past 52 weeks, a list in which Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino fail to crack the top ten.
(Juan Pimiento)
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Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina slammed third-tier Pro Piacenza’s 20-0 defeat by Cuneo on Sunday as an “insult to sport” after the losing side fielded just seven players.
Financially troubled Pro Piacenza have been unable to pay their players and staff, who have been on strike for several weeks.
Before Sunday’s game at Cuneo in Piedmont, northern Italy, bottom club Pro Piacenza had already forfeited three matches and a fourth would have seen them kicked out of Serie C.
So they took to the pitch with seven players, all teenagers born between 2000 and 2002. An eighth player could not initially start having forgotten his identity papers and came on after an hour.
One of the two players born in 2000 was named on the match sheet as the coach.
With information from AFP.
Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina slammed third-tier Pro Piacenza’s 20-0 defeat by Cuneo on Sunday as an “insult to sport” after the losing side fielded just seven players.
Financially troubled Pro Piacenza have been unable to pay their players and staff, who have been on strike for several weeks.
Before Sunday’s game at Cuneo in Piedmont, northern Italy, bottom club Pro Piacenza had already forfeited three matches and a fourth would have seen them kicked out of Serie C.
So they took to the pitch with seven players, all teenagers born between 2000 and 2002. An eighth player could not initially start having forgotten his identity papers and came on after an hour.
One of the two players born in 2000 was named on the match sheet as the coach.
With information from AFP.
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Bayern Munich got off to an inauspicious start in their Bundesliga match against Bavarian rivals Augsburg as midfielder Leon Goretzka scored in his own goal 13 seconds into the match.
Bayern Munich got off to an inauspicious start in their Bundesliga match against Bavarian rivals Augsburg as midfielder Leon Goretzka scored in his own goal 13 seconds into the match.
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was comically caught off guard when informed about Benjamin Mendy’s Instagram post announcing his location as Hong Kong.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was comically caught off guard when informed about Benjamin Mendy’s Instagram post announcing his location as Hong Kong.
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A week removed from Nantes’s emotional display, Cardiff followed suit with an emotional tribute to Emiliano Sala, who signed with the Welsh club before his disappearance, ahead of their first home game since the Argentine was reported missing.
A week removed from Nantes’s emotional display, Cardiff followed suit with an emotional tribute to Emiliano Sala, who signed with the Welsh club before his disappearance, ahead of their first home game since the Argentine was reported missing.
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Nantes paid an emotional tribute to Emiliano Sala at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Wednesday before their first match since their former striker’s plane disappeared over the Channel last week.
The 28-year-old had been traveling from Nantes to his new club Cardiff City when the plane went missing, with pilot David Ibbotson the only other person on board.
British investigators said earlier on Wednesday it was “likely” that two seat cushions that have washed up on the French shore were from the missing aircraft.
Nantes unveiled a large photo of Sala in the centre-circle before kick-off in the Ligue 1 game against Saint-Etienne, while the Argentine’s former teammates donned T-shirts with “we love you Emi” written on the back.
Supporters unfurled banners supporting Sala and flew Argentinian flags in the stands.
The tearful fans held a minute’s applause and chanted his name.
All the Nantes players played in shirts featuring Sala’s name instead of their own.
Former Nantes forward Yacine Bammou, who became a close friend of Sala’s before leaving for Caen, was in tears in the stands, while coach Vahid Halilhodzic also struggled to contain his emotions.
Sala scored 42 league goals in 120 appearances for Nantes before signing for Cardiff in a 17-million-euro ($19.3-million) move.
He had visited his former teammates in Nantes on January 21 to say goodbye before flying towards Cardiff on the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane.
The official search was suspended last Thursday, but Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it would start an underwater search this weekend, working alongside a privately-funded search.
Hundreds of Nantes fans had held a vigil in the French city last week shortly after the first searches had failed to find the player.
“I did not have much hope. Now we must try to mourn and then move forward,” said 69-year-old Nantes supporter Andree Guittet.
With information from AFP.
Nantes paid an emotional tribute to Emiliano Sala at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Wednesday before their first match since their former striker’s plane disappeared over the Channel last week.
The 28-year-old had been traveling from Nantes to his new club Cardiff City when the plane went missing, with pilot David Ibbotson the only other person on board.
British investigators said earlier on Wednesday it was “likely” that two seat cushions that have washed up on the French shore were from the missing aircraft.
Nantes unveiled a large photo of Sala in the centre-circle before kick-off in the Ligue 1 game against Saint-Etienne, while the Argentine’s former teammates donned T-shirts with “we love you Emi” written on the back.
Supporters unfurled banners supporting Sala and flew Argentinian flags in the stands.
The tearful fans held a minute’s applause and chanted his name.
All the Nantes players played in shirts featuring Sala’s name instead of their own.
Former Nantes forward Yacine Bammou, who became a close friend of Sala’s before leaving for Caen, was in tears in the stands, while coach Vahid Halilhodzic also struggled to contain his emotions.
Sala scored 42 league goals in 120 appearances for Nantes before signing for Cardiff in a 17-million-euro ($19.3-million) move.
He had visited his former teammates in Nantes on January 21 to say goodbye before flying towards Cardiff on the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane.
The official search was suspended last Thursday, but Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it would start an underwater search this weekend, working alongside a privately-funded search.
Hundreds of Nantes fans had held a vigil in the French city last week shortly after the first searches had failed to find the player.
“I did not have much hope. Now we must try to mourn and then move forward,” said 69-year-old Nantes supporter Andree Guittet.
With information from AFP.
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