Honours even between St-Etienne and Marseille
Saturday, October 2, 2010
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Laurent Batlles scored against his former club as Ligue 1 leaders AS Saint-Etienne drew 1-1 with Olympique de Marseille, while AJ Auxerre emphatically gained their first win.
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Olympique de Marseille halted the four-match winning run of AS Saint-Etienne by holding the Ligue 1 leaders to a 1-1 draw at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
André-Pierre Gignac gave Didier Deschamps' side the lead on 27 minutes with his first goal for OM since a summer move from Toulouse FC. Former Marseille midfieler Laurent Batlles equalised just before the hour, though St Etienne will be knocked off top spot if Stade Rennais FC overcome third-placed Toulouse on Sunday.
AJ Auxerre recorded their first league win of the campaign in emphatic fashion, triumphing 4-0 at bottom-of-the-table AC Arles-Avignon, who have yet to earn a point. Arles were being led for the first time by Bosnian coach Faruk Hadžibegić, who replaced the sacked Michel Estevan this week.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Briand scored twice in a 3-2 win for Olympique Lyonnais at AS Nancy-Lorraine. Briand struck the decisive blow 15 minutes from time from Aly Cissokho's hopeful ball into the area after Les Gones had earlier squandered a two-goal lead. Elsewhere, Stade Brestois 29 climbed to fourth courtesy of a 1-0 win at AS Monaco FC, one place above FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, 3-0 winners at home to lowly RC Lens.
