Marseille battle back to draw with Bordeaux

For the second week running, Marseille fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 on Sunday, sharing the spoils with Bordeaux in an engaging contest at the Stade Velodrome. A week after showing great spirit to hold Lyon in their first Ligue 1 match since sporting director Jose Anigo was asked to replace the sacked Elie Baup in the dugout, OM were rescued by two goals a minute apart in the second half in a game played on a poor pitch. The hosts had looked the more likely side in the first half but were denied by a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Cedric Carrasso. And it was Bordeaux who seized the lead 11 minutes before the interval when Brazilian forward Jussie -- again standing in for top scorer Cheick Diabate -- headed in from Ludovic Obraniak's corner. It was Jussie's third goal in as many games but he went off injured at half-time. Nevertheless, the visitors went on to increase their lead on 66 minutes when Kassim Abdallah failed to cut out a cross at the back post and Nicolas Maurice-Belay pounced to score. At that point, Bordeaux seemed set for a fifth successive win, but Marseille got a goal back in the 73rd minute, Alaixys Romao scrambling the ball over the line after Carrasso had pushed away a Florian Thauvin free-kick. And the equaliser followed immediately after, Benjamin Mendy lifting the ball into the box for Andre-Pierre Gignac to convert despite the presence of two defenders. They might even have won it had Carrasso not produced a superb save to keep out a Souleymane Diawara header, but it is Bordeaux who are in the better position after this result. The French Cup holders are fourth, a point clear of Saint-Etienne and two ahead of Marseille, who lie in sixth place. "I have mixed feelings after this match," said Anigo. "We conceded the first goal from a set-piece when we knew that could happen against Bordeaux, and the second goal...it's Christmas, the time for gifts, and we gave them one. And then we score twice but take just a point." Clement Grenier and Bafetimbi Gomis gave Lyon a 2-0 lead only for Lorient to strike back with two late goals, including an injury time equaliser in a 2-2 draw in Brittany. Vincent Aboubakar cut the deficit with Lorient's first goal with 31 minutes left before Alain Traore scored with virtually the last kick of the match to snatch a valuable point for Christian Gourcuff's men, which keeps them ninth. Later on Sunday, leaders Paris Saint-Germain play host to third-placed Lille at the Parc des Princes. PSG, who are already certain to finish the year on top of the table, are without Edinson Cavani, who travelled to his native Uruguay on Thursday, reportedly to settle his divorce, and has not returned in time. The capital club's nearest challengers Monaco suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat at the hands of struggling Valenciennes on Friday, with Radamel Falcao missing a penalty in his first appearance after almost a month on the sidelines. Source: AFP