tagged w/ Paris Saint-Germain
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Paris Saint Germain clinched a thrilling 4-2 victory at Marseille on Sunday to register their first win at the Riviera club for five years and prevent their rivals from going top of the French first division.
The 24-year-old striker Guillaume Hoarau scored PSG's first and final goals, with Peguy Luyindula and Jerome Rothen strikes sandwiched in between, though Marseille had been 2-1 ahead with goals from Mamadou Niang and Mathieu Valbuena.
It was PSG's first league victory at the Velodrome stadium since November 30 2003 and condemned Marseille to their first league defeat of the season.
Marseille looked to have paid the penalty of leaving Hatem Ben Arfa on the bench while PSG's tactic of playing a second-string team in midweek UEFA Cup action paid dividends as their fresh legs dominated the second half.
Marseille coach Eric Gerets said: "I am extremely disappointed and I feel particularly unhappy on behalf of my players who had a very good first half.
"This hurts because the result could have been so different though we are still in second spot. We played the first half exactly as planned but lacked freshness after the break.
"We weren't afraid of going top in the league and in fact this served as motivation."
PSG's two-goal striker Hoarau was delighted.
"We had a great match," Hoarau said. "That was the second time in two matches where we have been behind but came back well and showed our ability to tackle tough periods.
"We knew this was a classic derby match but there were also three points at stake and it became a very special result. Normally I watched this fixture on television but this time I was in it.
"At 2-1 down, we knew we had the space to get back in the match but we needed to stay solid at the back. Up front we have been in good form for two or three matches."
Champions Lyon, who drew 0-0 at Auxerre on Saturday, top the table with 21 points after 10 matches, with second-placed Marseille on 19, and Le Mans, Bordeaux and Toulouse all on 18 points.
Bordeaux could have sneaked provisionally into second spot with a win at Nice but were held instead 2-2 after throwing away a two-goal lead, Nice levelling affairs with a penalty six minutes into stoppage time by Loic Remy.
Brazilian Wendel had given Bordeaux an 11th-minute lead with a rasping free-kick and Argentine Fernando Cavenaghi made it two nine minutes after the restart.
It looked all over but Eric Mouloungui pulled one back as Nice, hovering on the fringes of the top six, belatedly began to show some muscle in attack before Remy clinched a point after Pierre Ducasse was adjudged - somewhat harshly - to have handled in the box.
Le Mans also drew 2-2 away, in their case at Rennes, while Toulouse drew 0-0 against Monaco.
Lille are eighth on 16 points after a brace from Ludo Obraniak secured a 2-2 home draw with Caen, who remain in midtable.
Down at the bottom, Le Havre thanked two goals from Jean-Michel Lesage as they recovered from going a goal down inside a minute to win 2-1 against fellow strugglers Valenciennes while Lorient dragged former giants Nantes back down towards the mire with a 3-0 win in their Breton derby.
Paris Saint Germain clinched a thrilling 4-2 victory at Marseille on Sunday to... more
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Despite talking to Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldo says he wants to play for Brazil's Flamengo next year, but the star player may retire if he fails to get back to his best.
''If in January I feel that something is missing, if I realize that I won't be able to play as well as before, I will retire,'' Ronaldo said.
The three-time FIFA Player of the Year, now almost fully recovered from his latest serious knee surgery, told Brazil's Globo TV late Monday that his playing time in Europe may be over even though some top clubs have shown an interest in him.
Ronaldo said he had ''very interesting talks with Manchester City,'' and that Paris Saint-Germain ''has been showing a lot of interest,'' but his first choice will be Flamengo, Brazil's most popular club.
''Flamengo is the favourite,'' Ronaldo said. ''It is my dream to play for Flamengo. (The club) is in pole position right now.''
Ronaldo, a longtime fan of Flamengo, has been practising with the five-time national champion the past few months as part of his recovery from knee surgery. The 32-year-old striker ruptured a tendon in his left knee in a Serie A match with AC Milan in February - the third major knee injury of his career.
''It will depend a lot on how I'll be feeling in January,'' Ronaldo said. ''I don't want to go to Flamengo just because it is my dream or as a favour. I have to deserve it. I know that if I don't play well, I'll be jeered by fans at Maracana just as the other players will.''
The striker, who has been without a club since his contract with AC Milan expired in June, is now trying to regain his fitness and says he only wants to play on if he can recapture his best form.
''It won't work If I'm well physically but not as fast as before. And I need to able to lose weight too, which could be another problem,'' Ronaldo said.
Despite making it clear that he expects to continue playing, Ronaldo said the ''decision can't be made right now.''
''I want to wait until January to see If I'll be in condition to wear a team's jersey again,'' he said.
The striker scored eight goals in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, including two in Brazil's victory over Germany in the final.
Despite talking to Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldo says he wants to... more
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