Marseille moves 2 points clear at top of French 1st division
By Vic Mills
LONDON (JP): Disrupted by World Cup play-off games and international friendlies, the domestic scene in Europe at the weekend was confined to matches in France, Holland and Spain.
The limited program was not without incident, however, as Olympique Marseille turned the clock back a decade to move two points clear at the top of the French first division.
The leading light in French football during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Marseille won five consecutive first division titles. At the center of a bribery scandal following its 1993 European Cup campaign, they were then relegated to the second division.
The long road back to credibility came with two goals either side of the interval against Auxerre on Sunday -- and this without star striker, Fabrizio Ravanelli, who was in Naples securing World Cup qualification for Italy.
Captain Laurent Blanc opened the scoring after 14 minutes, a lead that was doubled five minutes later by Claude Makelele. The game was over by the hour mark with Marseille having gone further ahead through Ludovic Asuar and Xavier Gravelaine.
There was no such joy for title challengers Bordeaux and Paris St Germain who shared the points in a goalless draw on a cold and rainy night in the southeast. The result drops PSG to second, while Bordeaux remains fourth, three points off the pace.
Long time leader Metz again failed to rediscover its early season form as it drew 1-1 at Nantes. Franck Histilloles gave the visitor the lead in the 20th minute only for Samba N'Diaye to equalize on the stroke of half time.
At the other end of the table, bottom club Cannes scored four times away from home and still conspired to lose at Lens. A 10- minute first half hat-trick by Anton Drobnjak gave Lens a comfortable 4-1 lead at the interval. But two goals in three minutes after the break by Marco Grassi and a Jean-Guy Wallemme own goal left the scores level. Lens stole the points with a Stephane Ziani penalty 11 minutes from time.
It was a weekend of missed opportunities in Holland as the chasing pack failed to make ground on leader Ajax who was with a game. Indeed, it was a case of two points dropped as second place PSV Eindhoven could do no better than draw 1-1 against a depleted Groningen side.
The joy of a 51st-minute goal by Arnold Bruggink for PSV was short lived as Groningen was level inside a minute with a Mariano Bombarda header. The draw leaves PSV five points adrift of Ajax having played a game more.
Vitesse Arnheim stands a further seven points behind in third place as second half goals from Jochem van der Hoeven and Dmitri Shukov were enough to take the points at NEC Nijmegen.
Stumble
Feyenoord, meanwhile continue to stumble from bad to worse as it drew nil-all at Graafschap Doetingchem; the home side reduced to 10 men for the last half-an-hour after having goalkeeper Ron Olyslager sent off for handling outside the box.
New coach, Leo Beenhakker, will need to turn matters around quickly as the Rotterdam giant is already 13 points behind Ajax having played a game more.
Not that life is any easier in Spain for former Ajax supremo, Louis van Gaal, as his expensively assembled Barcelona side continues to draw criticism despite a hard fought 3-2 win over third place Celta Vigo at the weekend.
Failure to qualify for the latter stages of the Champions League combined with poor league form has made life increasingly difficult for both club and manager.
A Dan Eggen own goal and others from Rivaldo and Juan Pizzi were enough to arrest a three game losing streak against Celta Vigo, but the manner of victory was anything but convincing.
Indeed, Barcelona's early season seven-point lead at the top will be cut to just one point if arch-rivals Real Madrid beat Valladolid on Monday night. A situation that could signal more banners calling for van Gaal's dismissal at the next home match.
All of which is a far cry from four months ago when his arrival was heralded in terms close to that of the Second Coming as he took control form the much-aligned Bobby Robson.
Athletico Madrid remains fourth, five points off the pace, after its goalless draw against Real Sociedad. This less-than- friendly affair exploded in the 17th minute with the sending off of Sociedad's Juan Andres Gomez for dangerous play. The Argentinian was followed five minutes from time by Athletico's Daniel Prodan for a second bookable offense.
Life was equally hazardous off the pitch as Athletico supporters left the stadium under a police escort after draping its stand with an array of Spanish flags, a clear provocation in the eyes of its Basque hosts.
In another hard fought draw, fifth place Espanyol shared the points at Deportivo de La Coruna. Moises Arteaga put the visitor ahead in the 5th minute only for Donato to equalize eight minutes later.