Le Mans topples Le Havre

Oct 4, 2008 - 10:45 PM By PA SportsTicker

Le Mans scored twice in the dying minutes to steal a 2-1 win and leave Le Havre rooted to the foot of the Ligue 1 table on Saturday.

Gervinho struck the winner two minutes into extra time after Modibo Maiga's 89th-minute equalizer had canceled out Amadou Alassane's opener.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Le Havre, which had been on course for only its second win of the season which would have lifted it out of the bottom three.

Instead it was Le Mans which took the spoils and climbed to fourth in the standings.

Mamadou Niang grabbed the winner as Marseille survived the second-half sending-off of Karim Ziani to see off Caen, 2-1, and earn its first Ligue 1 victory since the end of August.

Hatem Ben Arfa put Marseille ahead in the second minute only for Steve Savidan to equalize midway through the first half after an error by goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

Niang headed home the clinching goal in the 59th minute and although Ziani was given his marching orders in the 70th minute for two yellow cards, Marseille hung on to end a run of three successive draws and remain unbeaten in the league.

Fernando Menegazzo scored twice in two minutes as Bordeaux came from a goal down to beat Lorient, 2-1.

The midfielder grabbed a brace midway through the second half to reverse the scoreline after Michael Ciani had broken the deadlock in the 57th minute.

Nice were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Sochaux, Valter Birsa (73) canceling out Olivier Echoufnai's opener (50).

Christian Bekamenga's 77th-minute goal gave Nantes a 1-0 win over Grenoble, and Toulouse beat Auxerre by the same score courtesy of Andre-Pierre Gignac (55).

In Saturday's final Ligue 1 game, Lille edged past Valenciennes, 1-0, courtesy of an own goal from Jacques Abardonado in the 69th minute.

The win moves Lille up to sixth while Valenciennes are languishing in 16th place after eight games.