Tag: Marseille

Icardi, Neymar score to secure Pochettino first managerial trophy

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PARIS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — Mauro Icardi and Neymar scored as Paris Saint-Germain beat rivals Marseille 2-1 to win an eighth consecutive Trophee des Champions on Wednesday, which also ended new coach Mauricio Pochettino’s 12-year wait for his first title as a coach.

The Argentine started his coaching career in 2009 with Spanish club Espanyol and it took him more than 500 games to finally win a trophy after having lost two finals with his former side Tottenham – in the 2015 League Cup and 2019 UEFA Champions League.

“After 10 days as a coach, three matches played and this final against our biggest rival, it’s very important to win,” said the 48-year-old, who replaced Germany’s Thomas Tuchel to take charge of the Ligue 1 giants earlier this month.

“I want to thank the players and [PSG president] Nasser [Al-Khelaifi] for the opportunity,” the former PSG defender and captain added. “But also Thomas Tuchel and his staff because we are here because they have won titles.”

Icardi put PSG ahead in the 39th minute, sliding in from close range before Neymar, on his return from an ankle injury, added the second from the spot.

“This is only the beginning. We believe that with time and work, we can install our ideas and that the progress will be good because of the quality we have. We have little time to train but my players deserve this trophy, the recognition and they have adapted quickly to my requirements,” Pochettino added.

The game was also PSG captain Marquinhos’s 300th with the capital side, and he hailed Pochettino as “an exceptional coach” after the win. “It’s a pleasure to be on the pitch, to be able to give you all so that you can win matches and trophies. That’s why I came to PSG,” the Brazilian defender said.

“There is a new coach with a new philosophy, it’s not always easy to change during the season but Pochettino is an exceptional coach.”

Marseille playmaker Dimitri Payet pulled one back in the 89th minute, and Florian Thauvin missed a late chance in injury-time as PSG held on to seal the victory. “We played well despite the defeat,” Thauvin said.

“Unfortunately we conceded a penalty which hurt us.” Both sides will continue their league campaign this weekend, with PSG travelling to Angers and Marseille hosting Nimes.

Five red cards shown as Marseille end 9-year winless run against PSG

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PARIS, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — Marseille clinched their first victory against old rivals Paris Saint-Germain in nine years as Andre Villas Boas’ side beat PSG 1-0 on Sunday in a game which will be remembered by aggressive fouls and a late brawl.

Florian Thauvin’s close-range volley set up by Dimitri Payet in the 31st minute punished the defending champions to a two-game losing streak in the opening two weeks of the Ligue 1 campaign, the first time the capital-based club has lost its first two games in a season since 1984-1985.

But the stories of the toe-to-toe clash were far beyond the records. A brawl in stoppage time saw five players sent off, including PSG’s star Neymar, who has just come back from a COVID-19 quarantine.

The former Barca striker got a straight red for slapping on the back of Alvaro Gonzalez’s head. 

Walking off the pitch, Neymar told officials that he did so because he had been racially abused and the angry Brazilian tweeted after the match that his “only regret” was not hitting Gonzalez in the face.

“Neymar told me that it was a racist insult. I didn’t hear anything on the field,” PSG coach Thomas Tuchel said. “Racism in life, in all domains, in sport, should not exist.”

However, Villas-Boas didn’t think Alvaro – who earlier accused Angel Di Maria of spitting at him – would have committed such a wrongdoing.

“There is no place for racism in football but I don’t think so,” Villas-Boas said, “We will look at it later.” 

“Before that, we had a situation with a spit from Di Maria,” the Portuguese coach added.

The anarchy in injury time started with a tussle between Argentine pair Dario Benedetto of Marseille and Leandro Paredes of PSG, as the two players were both shown their second yellow cards and were sent off.

Meanwhile, PSG’s defender Layvin Kurzawa and his Marseille counterpart Jordan Amavi were also booked with direct red cards for a fight with each other in the disorder. 

As a result, the game ended with eight men from PSG on the field, while Marseille had nine.

The rivalry between the two clubs is one of the biggest in Ligue 1, which is also related to the competition of the two cities, the biggest and second-biggest in the country.

The bad relationship got worse last month as PSG went all the way into the Champions League final, which previously was an honor exclusively belonging to Marseille. 

Earlier in the day, Monaco beat Nantes 2-1 at home to move atop of the league standings on goal difference.  

Monaco climb out of League 1 relegation zone with crucial victory over Nantes

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Monaco climbed out of the Ligue 1 relegation zone on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Nantes on Saturday.

After failing to win at home all season until the start of February, Monaco managed back-to-back victories at the Stade Louis II as Gelson Martins fired in a Rony Lopes cross on 13 minutes.

AS Monaco recorded back-to-back home wins for the first time in Ligue 1 this season.

Portugal international Martins, also on target in last week’s 2-2 draw at Montpellier, has scored twice in three league appearances for Monaco following his arrival on loan from Atletico Madrid.

Leonardo Jardim’s side moved up to 16th and two points clear of Dijon in the relegation play-off place.

Marseille defeated Amiens 2-0 to record three straight wins for the first time this season and jump to fourth, six points behind Lyon in the final Champions League spot.

After failing to find the net in 10 matches for Nice this season, Mario Balotelli has found his goalscoring touch since for his new club Marseille.

Florian Thauvin put Marseille in the driving seat on the 19th minute at the Stade Velodrome before Balotelli swept in a second just six minutes later to help Marseille beat Amiems 2-0

The Italian appeared to have grabbed a second midway through the second half when he nodded in from a free-kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.

“It’s much too early (to talk about the top three) with the start to the season we had,” said Thauvin.

Patrick Vieira’s Nice crashed to a heavy 3-0 loss at mid-table Angers but remain seventh.

Runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain go to fifth-placed Saint-Etienne on Sunday, while Lille will target a sixth consecutive win at home to Montpellier.

Lyon overcame bottom side Guingamp 2-1 on Friday in their final outing before Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg at home to Lionel Messi’s Barcelona.

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