MARSEILLE, France: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Marseille ended a week of turmoil with a 5-2 win over promoted Paris FC in the French league on Saturday.
Marseille could even afford a missed penalty from Mason Greenwood late on.
But the victory wasn’t a given amid the unusual buildup to the game. Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi said Friday that teammates Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe had brawled as if in a pub fight after the team’s season-opening loss at Rennes last weekend.
Both players have been put on the club’s transfer list.
Greenwood opened the scoring Saturday with a penalty before the Aubameyang show started with a spectacular finish in the 24th minute.
Ilan Kebbal pulled one back four minutes later with a brilliant strike inside the far post and he played in Moses Simon to equalize early in the second half with a perfectly placed through ball.
Aubameyang restored Marseille’s lead after a gift from the Paris defense, Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg made it 4-2 in the 81st, and impressive substitute Robinio Vaz completed the scoring in stoppage time after Greenwood missed his second opportunity from the spot. The penalty was awarded for a foul on Vaz.
Lyon wins again
Lyon eased to a 3-0 victory over Metz for its first home win of the season following its successful appeal against relegation last month.
The seven-time French champion was demoted to the second tier because of ongoing financial irregularities and debts estimated at 175 million euros ($203 million), but it appealed.
The club’s new president, Michele Kang, watched as first-half goals from Malick Fofana and Corentin Tolisso were followed in the 83rd minute by Adam Karabec’s first goal since his arrival from Sparta Prague.
There was a brief holdup in the second half as an announcement and a message on the large screen warned against offensive chants.
It’s the second win from two games for Lyon, which opened with a 1-0 win over Lens last week.
Also Saturday, Nice enjoyed a 3-1 win over Auxerre, which had goalkeeper Donovan Léon sent off before the break for bringing down Isak Jansson.
Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain defeated Angers 1-0 on Friday.
Aubameyang scores 2 as Marseille moves on from players’ locker room fight with big win over Paris FC
https://arab.news/52nmj
Aubameyang scores 2 as Marseille moves on from players’ locker room fight with big win over Paris FC
- Victory followed Marseille's season-opening loss at Rennes, which caused teammates Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe to fight
- Coach Roberto De Zerbi said the two players, who brawled as if in a pub fight, have been put on the club’s transfer list
US drops bid to preserve FIFA bribery convictions
- Prosecutors told the Supreme Court on Tuesday they wanted to end their fight
- The case was one of several to emerge from a sweeping 2015 corruption probe by DOJ
NEW YORK: The US government has moved to drop its case against a former Fox broadcasting executive involved in the FIFA corruption scandal that plunged the world’s footballing body into crisis.
Prosecutors told the Supreme Court on Tuesday they wanted to end their fight to preserve the convictions of Hernan Lopez and Argentine sports marketing firm Full Play.
Both were found guilty in March 2023 of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies related to bribes to secure lucrative television rights to international football officials. The convictions were overturned on appeal months later, before being reinstated this July.
The case was one of several to emerge from a sweeping 2015 corruption probe by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which ultimately led to the downfall of then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
In a filing to the Supreme Court, which Lopez had asked to review his conviction, prosecutors said that dismissal of the case is “in the interests of justice,” without giving further details.
They asked the case be returned to a lower court for its formal dismissal.
“I’m grateful the truth prevailed, and I’m also confident more of that truth will come out,” Lopez, a US and Argentine citizen, wrote on X late Tuesday.
While there was no indication of Donald Trump’s involvement, the US president has issued a string of pardons including for corruption related offenses.
In February, he ordered the DOJ to pause enforcement of a long-established law that prohibits American companies from bribing officials of foreign governments to gain business.
Lopez was facing up to 40 years in prison and millions of dollars in penalties after his conviction for money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.
During the trial, a US court heard that the main beneficiaries of the kickback scheme were six of the most powerful men in South American football.
They included former CONMEBOL president Nicolas Leoz, who died in 2019, former Argentine football executive Julio Grondona, who died in 2014, and former Brazilian football chief Ricardo Teixeira.
The United States will host the World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico next year.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has cozied up with Trump ahead of the sporting event, this month awarding him the governing body’s inaugural “peace prize.”
