Ligue 1: PSG go top of Ligue 1 with 3-2 win over rivals Marseille
PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain moved back above Lyon to the top of the French league after twice coming back from a goal down to win 3-2 away to bitter rival Marseille in a frenzied match on Sunday.
Marseille's top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac struck twice in the first half, either side of France midfielder Blaise Matuidi's equalizer, to put Marseille in charge. But PSG profited from poor defending to score twice in quick succession at the start of the second half.
Brazilian defender Marquinhos equalized and Marseille defender Jeremy Morel scored an own goal moments later.
Tensions mounted when some Marseille fans threw projectiles at the PSG bus as it pulled into the Stade Velodrome stadium, with one window slightly cracked.
PSG is one point above Lyon and five ahead of third-place Marseille with seven games remaining.
Watch: Alejandro Bedoya scores for Nantes vs. Caen in Ligue 1
The win came at a cost for PSG, with Brazil defender David Luiz limping off after appearing to pull a hamstring and Thiago Motta trudgding off right before the end with a similar-looking injury.
With Zlatan Ibrahimovic largely kept quiet, Gignac shone as he took his season's tally to 18 league goals. But the absence of Cameroon center half Nicolas N'koulou was keenly felt, and Marseille's defense offered goalkeeper Steve Mandanda scant protection.
In front of a record 65,000 crowd, tensions were so high that kickoff had to be retaken after Gignac charged straight into Motta, and Ghana winger Andre Ayew was lucky to escape a yellow card early on after a thudding challenge on midfielder Marco Verratti.
PSG started well and, after Ayew lost the ball carelessly in the 12th minute, Javier Pastore's effort went just wide. With 20 minutes played, Pastore then picked out striker Edinson Cavani in the penalty area but he fluffed his half-volley.
Gignac, who is set to leave next season, gave Marseille the lead against the run of play in the 30th minute when he started and finished a move.
Collecting the ball on the left, he picked out midfielder Dimitri Payet on the right with a cross-field pass before meeting Payet's cross at the back post and out-jumping Marquinhos before planting a powerful header past goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.
PSG's chances took a further blow when Luiz limped off in the 34th minute.
But a minute later, PSG equalized when Matuidi shrugged off a challenge from defender Brice Djadjedje and curled a shot in off the post just past goalkeeper Steve Mandanda's outstretched hand.
Marseille regained the lead in the 43rd when Verratti's penchant for trying to dribble out of trouble — literally from anywhere on the field — backfired as he gave the ball away.
Midfielder Alaixys Romao put Gignac through, and he beat Sirigu with a confident finish, and Gignac almost completed his hat trick in the 45th when he met Payet's near-post cross with a bullet header that Sirigu brilliantly keep out.
PSG equalized when Marseille failed to properly clear Ibrahimovic's free kick and Marquinhos profited from the scramble to stab the ball home in the 49th.
Two miunutes later, Matuidi won the ball and released Pastore, whose cross from the left was meant for Ibrahimovic. Instead, Morel got there ahead of him to put the ball past his own 'keeper.
Ibrahimovic almost it 4-2 moments later when he headed just over.
Cavani looked angrily at Blanc when he took him off with 30 minutes remaining, and seconds later Mandanda made a superb close-range save from Matuidi.
With 20 minutes remaining, Bielsa replaced Gignac with Michy Batshuayi, but PSG went closest as Mandanda made a flying save to keep out Ibrahimovic's effort.
Earlier, winger Nicolas Maurice-Belay's first goal since August proved a timely one as it helped Bordeaux beat Lens 2-1 and keep alive its hopes of qualifying for next season's Europa League.
Meanwhile, teenage midfielder Thomas Lemar scored his first career goal deep into injury time as Caen moved closer to mid-table with a 2-1 win at Nantes, which dropped down to 10th place.
American midfielder Alejandro Bedoya gave Nantes the lead in the 11th minute, but striker Emiliano Sala equalized.
