Courbis stays calm as Lens race to good start
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Racing Lens and Bastia set the early pace in the French league by securing second consecutive wins on Saturday.
Racing Lens and Bastia set the early pace in the French league by securing second consecutive wins on Saturday.
Second-half goals by Lamine Sakho and a substitute, El-Hadji Diouf, gave Lens a hard-earned 3-2 triumph over promoted Guingamp; while a double strike in the second half by Frédéric Née helped Bastia beat a disappointing Bordeaux side 2-0.
Both teams have six points with two matches gone but Lens went top because of their higher number of goals scored. "Being the leaders tonight doesn't mean much," the Lens coach Rolland Courbis said. "There are 32 matches to go."
The former Arsenal and Real Madrid striker, Nicolas Anelka, made his Paris St-Germain debut as a 57th-minute replacement for Ali Benarbia in the 1-1 draw at Stade Rennes.
"Nicolas's performance satisfied me," said the Paris coach, Philippe Bergeroo. "He didn't play for long but he had to cope with two defenders on his back all the time."
Rennes went ahead through Cyril Chapuis in the 28th minute but Stéphane Dalmat levelled when he beat his former team-mate, Bernard Lama, with 15 minutes to go.
Promoted Lille, who held Monaco 1-1 the previous weekend, had another good result by crushing Strasbourg 4-0 away to put them in third place.
Djibril Cissé saved Auxerre for the second time in less than a week by scoring the winner two minutes from time to beat Metz 2-1. He had helped the Burgundy side into the Intertoto Cup final round when Auxerre beat Germany's Wolfsburg 2-1 on Wednesday.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments