Lille battles leader PSG to capital draw

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

Paris-Saint-Germain Gregory van der Wiel (L) and Lille’s Idrissa Gana Gueye vie the ball during a French league one soccer match on Dec 22. AP photo

Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Lille on Dec. 22 after a late own goal handed Laurent Blanc’s side a deserved draw at the Parc des Princes. 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic took his league leading tally to 15 goals from 19 matches with a deflected free-kick on 36 minutes that left Lille’s Nigerian ‘keeper Vincent Enyeama stranded to put the home side in front. However a lapse of concentration on the stroke of half-time led to the Lille equaliser. A teasing cross from the right ran into the path of Lille skipper Rio Mavuba who slotted the ball past PSG’s Italian ‘keeper Salvatore Sirigu as the teams went in at the interval on level terms. Ivory Coast international Salomon Kalou then stunned the capital club when he cooly slotted home his 53rd-minute penalty after a foul by PSG left-back Lucas Digne just inside the box. However a botched clearance from a PSG corner with 18 minutes left forced Marko Basa to steer the ball into his own goal to hand Blanc’s men a point which pushes them three points clear of Monaco with Lille a further point back in third. 
 
Second placed Monaco suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat at the hands of struggling Valenciennes on Dec. 20, with Radamel Falcao missing a penalty in his first appearance after almost a month on the sidelines.

Marseille comes back

Earlier on Dec. 22, for the second week running, Marseille fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2, sharing the spoils with Bordeaux in an engaging contest at the Stade Velodrome.

It was Bordeaux who seized the lead 11 minutes before the interval when Brazilian forward Jussie 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.

The French Cup holders are fourth, a point clear of Saint-Etienne and two ahead of Marseille, who lie in sixth place.