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Ligue 1
Jan 12, 2014 at 4pm UK
 
Marseille

1-2

Sougou (15')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Cheyrou (22'), Gignac (39')

Live Commentary: Evian TG 1-2 Marseille - as it happened

Relive Sports Mole's coverage of today's Ligue 1 encounter between Evian TG and Marseille.
2

Marseille went into this afternoon's encounter seeking three points that would help to fuel their slowly-fading Champions League aspirations.

Meanwhile, hosts Evian TG were looking for a vital win to guide them away from the relegation zone, with Pascal Dupraz's side only three points off the bottom three before kick off.

Evian took a surprise lead as Marseille loanee Modou Sougou netted against his parent club, before a wonder-strike from Benoit Cheyrou and an easy conversion from Andre-Pierre Gignac gave the visitors an important 2-1 win.

You can see how all of the live action unfolded by following our minute-by-minute updates below.


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Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to today's live commentary. We should be looking forward to an enthralling attacking encounter this afternoon, with Marseille looking to climb above Bordeaux into sixth place in the Ligue 1 table with a win this afternoon.

Evian have other ideas, however, as Pascal Dupraz's side will be looking for a vital three points to help steer them away from the relegation zone. It won't be an easy feat, though, as Evian have suffered four losses in their last six games.

Added to that is the home side's poor defensive record, with Evian having conceded 32 goals this season, as well as keeping only two clean sheets.

Meanwhile, visitors Marseille have only conceded 20, while having notched 27 goals in Ligue 1.

Some team news for you now, beginning with Evian's starting XI...

Evian starting XI: Laquait; Wass, Sabaly, Mongongu, Djadjedje, Tie, Barbosa, Cambon, Sorlin, Berigaud, Sougou

Marseille starting XI: Mandanda; Abdallah, Nkoulou, Diawara, Mendy, Cheyrou, Lemina, Thauvin, Romao, Gignac, Khalifa

A strong looking line-up for the visitors this afternoon... It's going to be hard to look past them in this encounter; especially with an attacking frontline consisting of Saber Khelifa and Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Only a few minutes until referee Philippe Kalt gets us underway here. Just so you're aware, today's leading official will be supported by Julien Pacelli and Julien Aube.

KICKOFF Here we go then... Marseille are in their darkened away strip, kicking from left to right.

Scrappy start here as Evian play with a high line to try and exert some pressure on the Marseille midfield.

Great play from Khelifa who drops deep and exchanges some neat passes with Cheyrou, who tries to find Gignac but the ball is intercepted by the home defence.

Sougou does well on the half-turn to hold the ball up by Evian, he tries to feed the ball in behind the Marseille defence, however all of their frontline appears to be in an offside position.

MISS! Wow. You might not see a miss like this again in your lifetime. Cheyrou produces an industrious run to get past the right full-back. The midfielder squares the ball across the goal to Gignac who is alone in acres of space, yet the striker gets himself in a tangle and clears the ball away from goal instead of finding the net. Poor.

Evian slowly settling down to their work here. Their manager has clearly told them to get amongst the visitors, as the home midfield sets about pressing with intensity.

Sougou looks to test the legs of Marseille's defence as he makes a great run across the visitors' defensive line, however he's unable to get hold of the through ball allowing Mandanda to sweep up.

Romao seems like he's starting to find a foothold in the game. The creative playmaker finds himself with time and space to try and pick out a neat pass through to Gignac, but Sabaly is on hand to cut out the ball.

MISS Sougou should score against his parent club. A free kick is whipped in and it lands at the striker's feet, who can only force a weak shot which is turned away for a corner.

GOAL! EVIAN 1-0 MARSEILLE (SOUGOU)

Modou Sougou makes amends for the miss from the resulting corner as he is first to react to Barbosa's delivery and finds the net with a header that loops over a helpless Mandanda in the Marseille goal.

GOAL! EVIAN 1-1 MARSEILLE (CHEYROU)

After a period of scrappy play, Benoit Cheyrou turns on the style to score his first goal of the season with a stunning strike from outside of the area. He should've been closed down a little better, but you can't take this away from him. A peach of a finish from the midfielder.

SAVE! Down at the other end Evian break away and Mandanda has to make a good stop to deny Sougou, as he lashes a shot towards goal through the smoke from a flare set off in the stands.

Great game here, end to end now as both sides look to get themselves back in front.

Marseille are perhaps rushing things a little. They've had plenty of possession but appear to be forcing things a bit too early.

SAVE! Marseille break away on the counter having robbed possession in their own half, however the resulting forward pass is cut out. The visitors win the ball back and it falls to Thauvin inside the box, who unleashes a stinging shot towards Laquait, who makes a great save to keep things level.

Marseille win the ball in exactly the same position again and Cheyrou brings it forward towards the Evian box before feeding Thauvin, but the midfielder is well-marked and the ball is marshalled out for a throw.

The visitors are starting to control possession, but are far too impatient again as Gignac is released, before finding himself in an offside position.

Evian find themselves with a good few minutes of respite as they force two corners. The second leads to a chance for Cambon who can only flick the ball wide.

GOAL! EVIAN 1-2 MARSEILLE (GIGNAC)

Well, Andre-Pierre Gignac makes up for his earlier miss by heading home from a few yards out. Thauvin is the man to thank, though, as he shows great feet to beat the full-back, before dinking a lovely ball across the box to the striker, who finds himself with time and space to apply the finish with ease.

Evian win a corner in a dangerous position just before the break. Up steps Barbosa, who can only find the wall with his curled effort. Wasteful.

Marseille looking to run down the clock here as they spray the ball across their defensive line. However, Gignac has other ideas as he drops deep to collect the ball before embarking on a courageous run down the right. He tries to cross from the byline but the ball is collected by Laquait as Evian retain possession.

Great work from Abdallah in the final minute almost creates a chance for the visitors as he beats two defenders, but is then crowded out at the vital moment.

HALF TIME: EVIAN 1-2 MARSEILLE

The referee calls time on the first half without any stoppage time added. A really entertaining 45 minutes here at the Parc des Sports stadium. Marseille probably just about deserve their lead. Mind you, had it not been for that piece of brilliance from Cheyrou, this game could be a totally different story.

Evian won't be too disheartened, though. They've looked good when they've got hold of the ball. Sougou could hold the key if they're looking to get anything from this game. Interesting to note that Marseille have allowed him to feature in today's game. Not so sure that would be allowed in the Premier League.

As you would've predicted before the game, Marseille have had the most of the possession in the first half. Good technical play from both Romao and Thauvin has ensured that the visitors' possession stats stand at 58 per cent.

Perhaps Evian's midweek game has played into Marseille's hands a little this afternoon? Marseille are definitely looking the more rested of the sides and they really brought that to the fore in the final 15 minutes of the first half.

Evian might need to adopt a different approach in the second half. They had originally sought to play on the counter, but now Marseille have no reason to come forward and open up defensively. The hosts need to be careful as the visitors have some dangerous players on the bench too.

The players are now heading back out onto the pitch as we await the start of the second half.

SECOND HALF BEGINS!

CHANCE! Evian scramble the ball forward following the restart and it falls to full-back Wass who can only skew his effort wide of the goal.

Good refereeing from Kalt who gives Sorlin a talking to without feeling the need to dish out a yellow card.

SHOT! Sabaly breaks down the left for Evian and he feeds Sougou, leaving the striker to have a go with his right, only to see his effort prevented from reaching the keeper's goal.

CROSSBAR! Khalifa exchanges a smart one-two with Gignac as the two forwards progress towards goal. The defenders keep backing away allowing Khalifa time to pick his spot. The striker decides to caress a dipping effort over the keeper and is only denied by the bar.

Positive work from Mendy as the youngster gets back in time to cut out the ball and prevent Evian from advancing into a dangerous position in the Marseille box.

Not much change early in the second period. Marseille have settled back into the driving seat and are controlling position.

Djadjedje does really well on the outside-right as the full-back presses on before beating two Marseille defenders. However, his ball into the box is cleared away for a corner.

CHANCE! Fantastic play from Thauvin finds Abdallah on the overlap, who then crosses for Gignac, but the delivery is just too quick as the ball evades the sliding striker.

CHANCE! Thauvin yet again! This time the marauding midfielder breaks down the left-hand side of the pitch. He whips in an inviting delivery towards Khalifa, but Laquait judges things perfectly as he comes off of his line to collect the ball mid-flight.

SUBSTITUTION: Dimitri Payet comes on to replace Saber Khalifa as Marseille look to mix things up in attack.

Gignac does well to bring the ball down inside the box, as it bounces he flicks the ball over the advancing goalkeeper, but is unable to direct the resulting shot on target, allowing the ball to land safely on the roof of the net.

Evian are somehow hanging on and still find themselves only a goal away from stealing a vital point. A piece of brilliance? A set-piece, maybe?

SUBSTITUTION: Evian make a change as Nicolas Benezet replaces Cedric Barbosa.

CHANCE! Gignac almost puts Marseille two goals ahead as he lashes a first-time effort on goal from outside the box, which flashes just over the crossbar. Close. Very close.

SUBSTITUTION: Applause rings out from the away supporters as Mathieu Valbuena replaces Florian Thauvin.

OOPS! Odd. Evian deliver a seemingly weak corner. Yet Mandanda does his best to change that by almost dropping the ball into his own net.

Valbuena has already started to have an impact on the game as he darts in and out of the space in front of Evian's defence. Take note that Marseille have scored a quarter of their goals in the final 15 minutes of their games this season. Evian have conceded a 25 per cent of theirs during the last quarter too.

Despite Marseille's domination they are still only one goal ahead. The longer this continues, the shakier the visitors will get. They need these three points as they look to chase their slowly-fading Champions League hopes.

SAVE! And just as I say that, Evian almost pull a goal back. Djadjedje turns in a great free kick into the box where Wass makes good contact with a header, only to find Mandanda in commanding form in the centre of goal.

Nkoulou has been adroit in his defending today. Wass thinks he's through on goal, but the Marseille defender is in the perfect position to come across and cut out the danger, as Evian look to push forward on the counter attack.

SAVE! Valbuena feeds Payet on the left, allowing the winger to cut into the box and dash a ball across the face of goal, which Laquait does well to turn away from danger with Gignac lurking in the box.

What can Evian do then? They've hung in the game for this entire half despite waves of Marseille attacks. Well, as soon as they get possession they pump the ball long in hope of something from their strikers. Not sure that's the best option...

CHANCE! Wass should score. Despite my criticism, a long ball finds an Evian midfielder with space on the left, he turns the ball into the box where Wass is waiting at the back post. However, he can't keep his effort down as he guides the ball over Mandanda's crossbar.

CLEARANCE! Towering header from the retreating striker Gignac of all people. He rises in the box to clear away a dangerous corner in the final stages.

Evian bombarding the box with crosses and long balls. Nothing comes of it though as Marseille stand firm and clear the ball away each time.

FULL TIME: EVIAN 1-2 MARSEILLE

So Marseille stage a 2-1 comeback victory away from home against Evian TG and maintain their chances of finishing in the top three in Ligue 1 this season.

Thank you very much for joining me today and hope that you enjoyed our live coverage. Have a good evening; it's goodbye from me for now.

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Evian's French coach Pascal Dupraz attends the French L1 football match Lille vies Evian TG on September 24, 2013
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Paris Saint-GermainPSG28189165244163
2Brest29158644271753
3MonacoMonaco28157653381552
4Lille281310542251749
5Nice2913883122947
6Lens29127103832643
7Lyon29125123845-741
8Reims29117113639-340
9Marseille2810994133839
10Rennes29109104136539
11Toulouse2999113437-336
12StrasbourgStrasbourg2999113340-736
13Montpellier HSCMontpellier29810113641-533
14NantesNantes2994162845-1731
15Le HavreLe Havre29610132737-1028
16Metz2975173049-1926
17Lorient2968153555-2026
18Clermont29410152148-2722


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