|
PARIS - Paris Saint-Germain is on a five-match winning streak without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, though none of the victories was entertaining and the side still looks poorer without its talismanic striker.So there was relief on Thursday when Ibrahimovic returned to training following a nagging heel injury, increasing speculation he could play against Marseille on Sunday, when a win would move second-place PSG to within one point of its bitter rival.Should PSG lose its unbeaten start to the season, however, resurgent Lyon could move into second place with a home win against struggling Guingamp.Here are some things to know about this weekends French league games:___ZLATAN CLOSE TO RETURN: PSG coach Laurent Blanc is optimistic Ibrahimovic may return to play a part in the table-topping clash against league leader Marseille.Ibrahimovic has not played since the 1-1 home draw against Lyon on Sept. 21, and his heel injury has kept him out for much longer than was first expected.Things have been evolving very well over the last few days. Were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now, Blanc said. He has started joining in training and hes been doing some running. He hasnt lost that much fitness in cardiovascular terms. If things continue to improve over the next few days anything is possible.Even if Ibrahimovic does not recover, PSG is well off in the forward department, with striker Edinson Cavani scoring in each of his past four games.DEFENDING CABAYE: PSG captain Thiago Silva has leapt to the defence of midfielder Yohan Cabaye, who has been in and out of the side since joining from Newcastle in January.Cabayes poor performance in last weekends gritty 2-1 win at Lorient saw him heavily criticized in the French media.Although a regular in midfield for France, Cabaye has struggled for PSG, scoring only one league goal in 25 games. He has not played a full 90 minutes so far, and was hauled off after one hour against Lorient.PSGs problem isnt Cabaye, Silva said. The problem was the match against Lorient and especially the first half, because none of the players did well.BARREN SPELL: Marseille striker Andre-Pierre Gignac is the leagues joint top-scorer, but he needs to end a barren run at Paris Saint-Germains stadium to add to that tally on Sunday.Gignac has never scored at Parc des Princes in eight previous outings with Marseille and his former clubs Toulouse and Lorient.The France forward has made his best start to a domestic season with 10 goals in 12 games, putting him level with Lyons Alexandre Lacazette.But Gignac has looked slightly jaded in his last two games, failing to score in the 1-0 loss at Lyon and the 2-1 home win against Lens.Two seasons ago, he scored two superb goals as Marseille drew 2-2 at home to PSG, with Ibrahimovic netting twice for the visitors.ANTONETTIS RETURN? Frederic Antonetti is in talks with Bastia over the vacant coaching position after former France midfielder Claude Makelele was fired on Monday.The Corsican club is 19th going into Saturdays game against mid-table Montpellier.Antonetti, who is Corsican, held long talks on Tuesday with Bastia president Pierre-Marie Geronimi.The 53-year-old Antonetti started his coaching career with Bastia in 1994, and had a second spell with the club.I need to take the time to think. There are a lot of things to take into consideration and I know Bastia only too well, Antonetti said. Its not an easy situation, and Bastia is the club of my heart, but I will give the directors my answer very quickly.He also coached Rennes from 2009-2013, and had spells managing at Nice and Saint-Etienne. . Minutes before the final whistle of Sporting Kansas Citys 3-0 victory over a shorthanded Montreal Impact squad on Saturday afternoon, Saputo tweeted: "Our fans deserve better. . Langer appeared to be in trouble when his second shot on the par-5 18th ended up in the rough short of the green. He hit a brilliant pitch to 5 feet and made the putt after Slumans birdie attempt rolled just wide. .Y. -- The Buffalo Bills have fired receivers coach Ike Hilliard. . The moves were the first punitive steps taken by the Dolphins since a report on the NFLs investigation of the case was released last week. Investigators found that guard Richie Incognito and two teammates engaged in persistent harassment directed at tackle Jonathan Martin, another offensive lineman and an assistant trainer. . The 31-year-old, a two-time CFL lineman of the year, was among the most coveted free agents on the market. The Windsor, Ont., native will be especially important to a team that has lost veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo to retirement and is expected to go with the less experienced Troy Smith and Tanner Marsh this season.GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay Packers are coming off consecutive division victories after a rocky start. Coach Mike McCarthy knows they have plenty of room for improvement.Echoing a sentiment quarterback Aaron Rodgers had expressed in the immediate aftermath of the Packers 42-10 rout of the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field on Thursday night, McCarthy said that despite the offence having turned in consecutive encouraging performances and the defence starting to create turnovers and get stops, the Packers (3-2) need to get better.When you evaluate your football team, you look at your play style, which way youre going to play each and every day. Theres a standard there, McCarthy explained Friday afternoon in his usual day-after-the-game press briefing. Quality of play, youre always chasing quality of play to be higher. And, ultimately, win the game.Our play style hasnt been very consistent. Our quality of play, we have a lot of work to do there. ... We need to be better.That was Rodgers message after the game as well.Both Rodgers (12 of 17, 156 yards, three touchdowns, 138.7 quarterback rating) and running back Eddie Lacy (13 carries, 105 yards, two TDs) were extremely efficient, but after a three-and-out to open the game and back-to-back touchdown drives, the offence stalled until defensive end Julius Peppers 49-yard interception return for a touchdown.While that might have been nitpicking for a team that built a 42-0 third-quarter lead, Rodgers a€” after telling fans to R-E-L-A-X before Sundays victory at Chicago after the teams 1-2 start a€” didnt think so.A lot to improve on, I think, Rodgers said. Offensively, were a little stagnant.I think we have some considerable improvements to make moving forward. I mean, this was a home game for us. Defence played really well. Offensively, we started pretty good. Two touchdowns in threee drives and then we kind of went stagnant for a while, so thats disappointing.ddddddddddddAsked about Rodgers comments Friday, McCarthy replied: He speaks for the locker room, theres no question about it. Hes won championships, hes been an MVP of the league. He knows what it takes and he knows what it looks like, he knows what it feels like. He also knows where we are. Were all excited about what we can be.McCarthy gave his players Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, and while theyll return to work Monday, they will not practice, the coach said. Their next game is Oct. 12 at Miami, followed by an Oct. 19 home game against Carolina and an Oct. 26 trip to New Orleans.Theres a bunch of cliches about one game at a time. To me, its more about one day at a time, McCarthy said. Im a big believer that your preparation shows up in your performance.While Rodgers was dissecting the offensive performance, the members of the Packers defence recognized that shutting down the Vikings Christian Ponder-led a€” and Adrian Peterson-less a€” offence was what the unit was supposed to do. After giving up 496 yards to Chicago last Sunday, the defence cannot afford to be complacent.Still the group did play well. Peppers interception was one of three takeaways the defence created a€” giving the unit eight turnovers in the past three games a€” and the Vikings had just 123 yards of offence entering the fourth quarter.To rebound in that manner on a quick turnaround with a divisional rival coming in here, it feels great, outside linebacker Clay Matthews said of a defence that sacked Ponder six times and hit him 16 times. Weve been stressing that for quite some time. The offence and defence have had their ups and downs this season. Weve looked great at times, weve looked poor at times. But (this game) seemed like it was close to a complete game. ' ' '
|
