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LIGUE 1 ROUND-UP

PSG

Marseille miss chance after PSG’s shock defeat

The weekend's action in France's Ligue 1 was full of upsets as league leaders Marseille were beaten at Monaco and Paris Saint Germain finally lost their unbeaten record in a shock 1-0 defeat to Guingamp. Catch up on the action here.

Marseille miss chance after PSG's shock defeat
Zlatan Ibrahimovic doesn't look happy aduring his side's 1-0 defeat to Guingamp. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP

Star-studded Paris Saint Germain slumped to a second defeat in a week as they lost their unbeaten French Ligue 1 record when lowly Guingamp beat them 1-0 on Sunday.

But the shock reverse was softened when league leaders Marseille, on 38 points, also lost 1-0 at Monaco in Sunday's late game, leaving the champions second just a point adrift of the top and Lyon third on 36 points.

Victory would have made Marseille 'Champions of Autumn', league leaders going into the winter break, but Bernardo Silva's precise shot from the edge of the area on 68 minutes handed Monaco a deserved win.

Fresh from securing their passage into the last-16 of the Champions League as group winners on Tuesday, Monaco's disciplined display left the usually swashbuckling Marseille frustrated.

Rod Fanni missed a simple chance for the visitors with an open goal begging just before half-time, and Marseille's star striker Andre-Pierre Gignac was kept quiet.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi had been furious as his side lost 3-1 in Barcelona on Wednesday.

But Sunday's performance was far worse.

Jeremy Pied got Guingamp's goal with a flying header on the edge of the six-yard box in the 11th minute with the Paris central defence of Thiago Silva and David Luiz nowhere to be seen.

"It was poor marking all round, even me I got it wrong," said PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi.

"We're really upset. We're just not used to losing and now that's two in a week."

Edinson Cavani had hit the crossbar in the second minute and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had the ball in the net in the 35th minute only to see an offside flag go up.

PSG had ten wins and seven draws going into the game and, despite dominating, Guingamp's bloody-minded resistance was eventually more than a match for the Qatari-backed PSG side.

"This is not just a bad week, it's a dreadful one," said PSG coach Laurent Blanc.

"If we lose because the other side were good that's one thing, but this we cannot tolerate."

Lille, dumped out of the Europa League in midweek, picked up three welcome points with a 3-0 win over Toulouse, thanks to goals from Djibril Sibide, Ryan Mendes and Nolan Roux.

Earlier, Saint Etienne coach Christophe Galtier was left with a bitter taste after a 0-0 stalemate with Nice saw his midfielder Ismael Diomande sent off for a second yellow after a clash with Nice's Carlos Eduardo, who was also given a straight red for his studs in the face challenge.

"He got kicked in the face, I can't explain it," said Galtier of the second yellow. "The guy from Nice deserved his red though."

On Saturday a freak own goal helped Nantes to a 2-1 win over Bordeaux to end a three-match losing run thanks to Jordan Veretout's opener, cancelled out
by Kian Hansen's own goal.

In the 66th minute Bordeaux's young Slovenian reserve keeper Azbe Jug haplessly scored the decider when the ball, rebounding off a post, struck him on the head and ended up in his own net.

Rennes were thwarted 2-0 at Bastia, playing much of the game a man down after Fallou Diagne's 26th minute red card.

A first half stoppage time goal from Ryad Boudebouz and Yannick Cahuzac's effort nine minutes from time earned Bastia a precious fourth win of the season.

Reims' Brazilian midfielder Rigonato scored either side of the break in Reims' pulsating defeat of Evian, while on a high-scoring day in the French top flight Lens came from behind to salvage a 3-3 draw at Montpellier.

On Friday, Ligue 1's leading scorer Alexandre Lacazette grabbed a brace as Lyon beat bottom club Caen 3-0 to make it eight consecutive home wins.

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FOOTBALL

‘Not football’s job’ to combat homophobia: French football chief

The head of French football has pulled away from a hardline stance against homophobic chanting and banners in stadiums on Friday, saying that "too many matches" have been stopped due to anti-gay abuse.

'Not football's job' to combat homophobia: French football chief
Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AFP

Noel Le Graet, president of the French Football Federation (FFF), said that the FFF would not instruct referees to stop matches except in cases when a “whole stadium” was guilty of homophobic chanting.

“I think we're stopping too many matches! That makes certain government ministers happy, but it bothers me. Football can't be taken hostage by vulgarity,” said Le Graet in an interview with newspaper Ouest-France.

Several matches have been temporarily halted in France this season after the French football League (LFP) introduced over the summer plans to tackle fan homophobia during matches, including allowing referees to stop games.

“Matches have been stopped when they shouldn't have been,” Le Graet continued.

“We will stop them if there is consistent homophobic abuse from the whole ground, but if among 30,000 people there are 2,000 imbeciles I don't see why the other 28,000 should be punished.”

Le Graet referred to France's sports minister Roxana Maracineanu, who in April launched the appeal for matches to be stopped in the event of homophobic abuse, and equalities minister Marlene Schiappa.

Schiappa publicly praised referee Clement Turpin after he stopped Marseille's 2-1 win at Nice for over 10 minutes last month following sustained abusive chanting and banners from home fans, but Le Graet insisted that it wasn't football's job to combat homophobia.

Paris Saint-Germain's match at Metz two days later was also briefly halted for a banner unfurled by the hosts' supporters asking the French league (LFP) to allow them to aim homophobic chants at PSG.

“Did football invent homophobia? You can be a know-it-all when you have got much to say. But there are more important political issues,” he said.

“This crisis will resolve itself. We will work with club presidents, people who don't stick their oar in every morning, who don't want to just look good in front of the television cameras.”

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