Bordeaux’s French defender Julien Faubert (left) vies for the ball with Marseille’s French defender Benjamin Mendy during the French L1 match at the Velodrome Stadium in Marseille, southern France, yesterday.
PARIS: For the second week running, Marseille fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 yesterday, sharing the spoils with Bordeaux in an engaging contest at the Stade Velodrome.
A week after showing great spirit to hold Lyon in their first Ligue 1 match since sporting director Jose Anigo was asked to replace the sacked Elie Baup in the dugout, OM were rescued by two goals a minute apart in the second half in a game played on a poor pitch.
The hosts had looked the more likely side in the first half but were denied by a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Cedric Carrasso.
And it was Bordeaux who seized the lead 11 minutes before the interval when Brazilian forward Jussie - again standing in for top scorer Cheick Diabate - headed in from Ludovic Obraniak’s corner.
It was Jussie’s third goal in as many games but he went off injured at half-time. Nevertheless, the visitors went on to increase their lead on 66 minutes when Kassim Abdallah failed to cut out a cross at the back post and Nicolas Maurice-Belay pounced to score.
At that point, Bordeaux seemed set for a fifth successive win, but OM got a goal back in the 73rd minute, Alaixys Romao scrambling the ball over the line after Carrasso had pushed away a Florian Thauvin free-kick.
And the equaliser followed immediately after, Benjamin Mendy lifting the ball into the box for Andre-Pierre Gignac to convert despite the presence of two defenders.
They might even have won it had Carrasso not produced a superb save to keep out a Souleymane Diawara header, but it is Bordeaux who are in the better position after this result.
The French Cup holders are fourth, a point clear of Saint-Etienne and two ahead of Marseille, who lie in sixth place.
The capital club’s nearest callengers Monaco suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat at the hands of struggling Valenciennes on Friday, with Radamel Falcao missing a penalty in his first appearance after almost a month on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay looks set to remain in his post for the “foreseeable future” after owner Vincent Tan agreed to dialogue, the club’s chairman said yesterday. According to reports Mackay was told to resign or be sacked last week but said after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Liverpool that he had no intention of walking away having guided the Welsh club to the top flight for the first time in 51 years last term.
Controversial owner Tan was booed and heckled by Cardiff fans at Anfield, who held up banners saying “Tan out” and “We want our club back” while chanting their support for Mackay.
“As things stand Malky is in charge for the foreseeable future and will be until something else happens,” Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman said in a club statement.
“The crisis for the time being is over. The emphasis as of today is for us to create space and dialogue.” AGENCIES
