FreeGoalZ: 9/19 Goal.com News - English

Goal.com News - English - America

'We deserved to top Ligue 1' - Olympique Lyonnais' Remi Garde pleased with Marseille win

September 18, 2011 at 7:55 PM

Olympique Lyonnais head coach Remi Garde is thrilled that his side are at the summit of the Ligue 1 table after a 2-0 victory over Olympique de Marseille.

"Although we are still far away from the finishing line, we have been working very hard for this," he said after the game.

First-half goals from Bafetimbi Gomis and Michel Bastos gave Lyon a comfortable win over its Ligue 1 rivals in a one-sided contest.

The victory saw Lyon move to the top place in the league with 14 points from six games, with Montpellier and Toulouse their closest suitors, both on 13 points.

And Remi Garde, who was installed as coach in the summer, says the club's current league position is fully merited.

"After the Champions League playoffs fell right at the same time as the league debut, we did not know what was going to happen.

He added, "Now, we are happy. We deserved this. We have the momentum and we must keep this going."

However, the 45-year-old warned his side against complacency, saying: "The league did not end with Sunday's game."

Both teams will be in action again in Ligue 1 this Wednesday with Lyon away to Caen while Marseille host Evian.

'There is no deal' - Santos' Neymar denies Real Madrid agreement

September 18, 2011 at 7:30 PM

Santos star Neymar has rejected suggestions he is on the brink of agreeing a move to Real Madrid.

"I have been sold like 30 times," Neymar is quoted as saying by Lancenet. "There is no truth to that, I am a player of Santos and I will stay here to play at the club's centenary.

Brazilian sources claimed that Neymar was due to sign a contract with Madrid on Monday after passing a medical at the request of the Spanish club at a hospital in Sao Paulo on Friday.

Questioned about the reports, the 19-year-old said gave no credence to the latest stories about his future, stressing he is fully committed to the club.

"That is all speculation, there is no deal," Neymar said.

Neymar confirmed he was at Hospital Sao Luiz on Friday, but guaranteed it had nothing to do with a potential move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

"I went to the hospital to solve a personal problem," he explained.

AC Milan's Massimiliano Allegri: It was a mistake to allow Napoli to attack on the counter

September 18, 2011 at 6:28 PM

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri lamented that his players gave Napoli the chance to attack on the counter in his team's 3-1 defeat.

Milan took the lead only 12 minutes in thanks to an Alberto Aquilani header, but saw Napoli turn the score around in less than 40 minutes with a hat-trick from Edinson Cavani.

After the match, Allegri praised his men, but lamented that Napoli was allowed to play its own game.

"This was a very odd game," he told Sky Sport Italia. "We had a lot of possession and we were in the lead, but then they were a bit lucky to equalize almost immediately after. We should not have allowed them to attack on the counter, we knew they would play this way. I am happy with my players, we just lacked a bit of determination in some moments."

AC Milan is currently at the wrong end of the table, with just one point from two games, but Allegri confessed he is not concerned about his side's league situation.

"I am not worried, we know we are a good squad," the coach added. "We come off two good displays against Lazio and Napoli. It is true we have to improve because we have conceded five goals in two games."

Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho: Sami Khedira and the referee are responsible for the defeat to Levante

September 18, 2011 at 5:52 PM

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho blamed Sami Khedira and match official Javier Turienzo Alvarez for his side's 1-0 defeat at Levante.

A second half goal from Arouna Kone was enough for the hosts to sink Madrid, who were reduced to 10 men during the course of the first half following Khedira's second bookable offense.

The Bernabeu outfit claims the referee failed to signal a penalty in the 62nd minute after Vicente

Iborra had handled the ball inside the area, an offense which would have earned the midfielder his second yellow of the game.

After the game, Mourinho criticized the work of the referee, while ironically saying Levante deserved to win the game because of its underhand tactics.

"There was a clear penalty, which would have given Iborra his second yellow card, and that had a clear impact on the result" he told reporters. "If we had scored from the spot and been 10 versus 10, the history of the game would have been different. But we do not have to take credit away from Levante and from what they know they can do at home. I have to congratulate them for this. They know how to provoke, to simulate, to waste time and not give the ball. This is also football and our players do not like these things. No one does it better than Levante in this league."

The Portuguese tactician said Khedira was partially accountable for the negative result, but noted that the German midfielder only fell victim to Levante's antics.

"There are players on our team who cannot get used to the dirty part of football, who are not comfortable with it," Mourinho said. "One of my players [Khedira] was at fault because he knew what was going to happen. He fell into the trap. I hold him partially responsible for the defeat, but the referee is also to blame. Not signalling a penalty nor sending a player off is a lot."

Mourinho conceded his team was largely superior before Khedira was shown red and lamented not scoring during that period.

"While both teams had 11 players on the pitch, we played well and our opponent did not enter our midfield," he explained. "We had chances on goal, two of them in which there was no goalkeeper and another one with an easy shot from four meters out, and we could not score."

Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 Olympique de Marseille: Michel Bastos inspires OL to the summit of Ligue 1

September 18, 2011 at 4:52 PM

Remi Garde's unbeaten start as Olympique Lyonnais head coach continued on Sunday night as he watched his side defeat rival Olympique de Marseille 2-0 at Stade Gerland to move top of Ligue 1, as OM slumped to dead last.

Bafetimbi Gomis would open the scoring for OL after 17 minutes when he turned home a wicked cross from Michel Bastos, and the influential Brazilian would strike the crucial second for the host side with a fine finish just before the half hour mark.

The opening period of the game was rather tactical, with Marseille controlling possession but making little headway into the Lyon defense so the opening goal came something out of the blue. A surging run down the left from Michel Bastos was finished by a positive cross that was matched by Gomis' controlled finish beyond Steve Mandanda.

Against an opponent clearly short of defensive confidence, Lyon would quickly add a second goal. Again it owed much to a powerful run down the left channel from Bastos, who on this occasion was able to burst into the box and dispatch a shot into the far corner of the net.

Before the half was out, the Brazilian would make an almost identical foray, though his finish was slashed wide on this occasion.

Lyon was rampant towards the end of the opening period, but the club could not find a game-killing third goal, despite a powerful Gomis shot being punched clear by Mandanda.

Didier Deschamps' side regrouped after the break and offered an improved second half display, though Hugo Lloris in the home net would never seriously be tested.

Loic Remy and Cesar Azpilicueta managed to get in each other's way mere yards from goal, while a superb one-touch exchange concluded with Lucho Gonzalez's volley flirting with the right hand post of the Lyon goal.

Although its position was certainly inclement, Marseille did not allow its' level to crumble in the closing stages, and the club's infrequent assaults on the home net continued. With 12 minutes remaining, Lloris was finally beaten as Remy headed positively goalwards from a Mathieu Valbuena corner, but his effort was hacked away on the line.

Lyon would preserve the two-goal cushion to move to the summit of the Ligue 1 standings, with Garde yet to endure his first defeat since taking over in the summer. His young side is playing with enthusiasm and, crucially, confidence, which is a commodity sorely lacking in the ranks of OM, which now props up the Championnat classification.