Juninho's late equalizer denies PSG full points
Paris, France (Sports Network) - Juninho's equalizer deep into stoppage time allowed Ligue 1 champions Lyon to steal a point from PSG in a 1-1 contest at Parc des Princes on Saturday.
Lyon is now unbeaten in its last 12 league contests and has already secured its sixth consecutive league title. PSG, meanwhile, thought it had three points in the bag after Edouard Cisse scored shortly after the restart to give the home side a 1-0 lead, but the late tally made them settle for a point. The point still allows the Paris club to move seven points clear of the drop zone with just three games to play.
The visitors started out as the better side, and after Milan Baros sent a header wide from close range, PSG keeper Mickael Landreau was called upon to make a pair of nice stops in succession, first denying Patrick Muller and then turning away Kim Kallstrom just seconds later.
Francois Clerc was also stopped by Landreau, and Muller should have done better from close range as he drilled his shot over the net.
PSG was luckily to be level at halftime, but a great piece of individual skill from Cisse allowed the home side to edge in front. After a weaving run through the midfield, Cisse played a pass to Bernard Mendy on the right flank. Mendy then returned the favor and hit Cisse with a cross at the top of the box. Cisse brought the ball down with his chest and fired a tremendous volley that gave Lyon keeper Gregory Coupet no chance.
Florent Malouda and Sidney Govou both missed chances to tie the contest, but it was left for Juninho to steal the point late. Govou had the ball on the right and the Brazilian midfielder made his run into the area. Govou's cross was met by the head of Juninho, and he placed it into the upper part of the net to stun the home crowd with just seconds remaining.
In other Ligue 1 action on Saturday, Nancy got a comfortable 3-0 win against Nice, Auxerre got past Troyes 1-0, last-placed Nantes earned a point from Le Mans in a 1-1 draw and Lens regained second place in the standings with a 2-0 win against Toulouse. Rennes and Bordeaux shared the points in 0-0 fashion, Sedan moved closer to avoiding relegation with a 3-1 win against Lorient and Sochaux got a goal from Anthony Le Tallec to defeat Valenciennes 1-0.
On Sunday, St. Etienne and Lille, who are level on 46 points, meet up at Stade Geoffrey Guichard and fourth-placed Marseille tries to keep its own Champions League dreams alive.







Comments
he is absolutely amazing, Juninho. The best freekick taker in the world hands down. look him up on youtube and you'll see.
Posted by: bredred | May 6, 2007 04:21 PM
I agree. Can't see why he's been left out of the Brazilian side for the past year. He may be aging, but when you look at his free kicks, there is none better...anywhere!
Posted by: vasoccerstar | May 7, 2007 03:13 PM