Andre-Pierre Gignac scored a dramatic 93rd minute winner as Marseille extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to five points after defeating Caen 2-1 on Saturday.
The match appeared to be heading for a draw before Gignac drove home a loose ball from inside the box in the dying moments to take his league leading scoring tally to nine goals from nine matches.
It was also the seventh straight victory for Marcelo Bielsa’s side and puts them into a healthy position ahead of Sunday’s showdown at the Parc des Princes between champions Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco.
The hard earned victory under wet Normandy conditions lifted Marseille five points ahead of Bordeaux with Lille seven back and PSG eight adrift with both teams playing Sunday.
“The equaliser we conceded at the end of the match was cause for doubt but the team always believed right til the final minute and we were able to make the difference,” said Bielsa.
“The victory was difficult but we created a lot of chances and we got there in the end,” added the Argentine.
In other matches on Saturday, Evian climbed out of the relegation zone with three second half goals to defeat promoted Metz 3-0.
Nice scored in the 94th minute to hold 2012 champions Montpellier 1-1 in the south coast derby while Claude Makelele’s Bastia sunk into the bottom three after crashing 2-0 at home to Lorient.
Finally, Rennes moved into the upper half of the table with a 2-0 home win that left Lens third from bottom.
Caen came into their match against Marseille with the worst home record in the French top flight having already lost three times at their Stade Michel D’Ornano but they were unfortunate to suffer defeat.
“It was a difficult match and congratulations to them (Caen) because we were a bit lucky,” said Gignac, who was recalled to the France team this week for upcoming friendlies against Portugal and Armenia.
“We showed that we’re a big club and on the goal, I was just trying to control it and hit the target. It’s a big three points for us,” added the 28-year-old.
Togo international Alaixys Romao sent a glancing header that deflected in off the unfortunate Caen keeper Remy Vercoutre with 15 minutes left to give Marseille the initiative but the lead only held up briefly.
Caen thought they had an equaliser one minute later when a free kick from the right flank was headed past Steve Mandanda by Damien Da Silva but the linesman ruled out the effort with a disputable offside decision.
But with six minutes left from a similar set-piece, Caen deservedly equalised when Gabon defender Yronda Musavu-King towered above the Marseille back four and planted a header past the static Mandanda.
Then came Gignac’s heroics following some sustained pressure from the visitors and three valuable points for Marseille in the title race.
Former Lyon keeper Vercoutre was the main reason Marseille were unable to open the scoring earlier as the 34-year-old pulled off a string of fine saves to deny the visitors.
Gignac was denied by the Caen No 1 while Ghanaian international Andre Ayew, Florian Thauvin and Dimitri Payet also peppered the home goal as Marseille fired in 12 first half shots.
Second-placed Bordeaux slumped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Reims on Friday, their second defeat in nine outings while there are four games later on Saturday.
On Sunday, PSG, fresh from the 3-2 victory over Barcelona in midweek Champions League action take on Monaco while Saint-Etienne await Toulouse, Guingamp meet Nantes and finally third placed Lille are on the road at seven-time champions Lyon.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The biog
Name: Maitha Qambar
Age: 24
Emirate: Abu Dhabi
Education: Master’s Degree
Favourite hobby: Reading
She says: “Everyone has a purpose in life and everyone learns from their experiences”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EBattery%3A%2060kW%20lithium-ion%20phosphate%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20Up%20to%20201bhp%3Cbr%3E0%20to%20100kph%3A%207.3%20seconds%3Cbr%3ERange%3A%20418km%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh149%2C900%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Ford Mustang GT
Price, base / as tested: Dh204,750 / Dh241,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque: 569Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.3L / 100km
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
The%20Specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELamborghini%20LM002%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205.2-litre%20V12%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20450hp%20at%206%2C800rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E500Nm%20at%204%2C500rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFive-speed%20manual%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100kph%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%209%20seconds%20(approx)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210kph%20(approx)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EYears%20built%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201986-93%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20vehicles%20built%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20328%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EValue%20today%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24300%2C000%2B%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
