Ancelotti pleased with PSG form

30 September 2012 11:25

Carlo Ancelotti has praised Paris Saint-Germain's four-game winning streak, after Saturday's 2-0 Ligue 1 success over Sochaux.

The capital club moved to within three points of leaders Marseille courtesy of a brace to Kevin Gameiro, who made his first start of the season alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Ancelotti was keen to stress the defensive improvement made by his side, having kept clean sheets in their last three league matches, and talked highly of his team.

"The team is enjoying a good run. We played an excellent first half of football especially in attack," Ancelotti told the club's official website.

"We then controlled our two-goal lead after the break. In defence, we gave them very few scoring opportunities.

"Kevin Gameiro worked well, he had fantastic match. His goals showed he hasn't lost any confidence, and he deserved to score."

Goalscorer Gameiro expressed his delight at bagging his first two goals of the season, and insists there is a great harmony between the players.

"It's a good team win and I'm there to put the ball in the back of the net. I was hungry. I hadn't started a match for a long time. All the hard work paid off," Gameiro told Canal+.

"The squad rotates and everyone gets their chance. Playing with two up front allows us to open up the space.

"The squad has great solidarity, and I hope we can achieve great things together this season."

Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he and his team-mates are more than pleased with their current form.

But the Swedish international is not taking anything for granted as Lyon and league leaders Marseille play on Sunday.

PSG haven't lost a league game since April and have now won five in a row in all competitions.

"It was an important three points we got today and it was a stable game but we won the game so it is the fourth or fifth game in a row that we won so that is good for the confidence," he said.

"We don't know yet because if Lyon win then they are the second no? So we are the third, but I don't know. I haven't played this game before (Marseille), but people talk about it and for sure it is an important game. But let's play on Wednesday and then we think about Sunday."

PSG will travel to Portugal to face Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday, before the clash with rivals Marseille next weekend.

Ligue 1 wrap: PSG win again, Montpellier improving

30 September 2012 00:16

Paris Saint-Germain have moved into second in Ligue 1 after a 2-0 victory over Sochaux, with Kevin Gameiro scoring both goals.

The capital city club reduced the gap behind leaders Marseille to only three points as Gameiro scored twice in the first half, with PSG winning their fourth successive match in Ligue 1.

Javier Pastore created PSG's first goal in the 11th minute, chipping Sochaux's defence with precision to find Gameiro.

The France striker brought the ball down with his right foot before poking it into the net under Simon Pouplin, who was charging off his line.

In his first start of the season, Gameiro took full advantage of the time on the pitch, knocking in a second goal before half-time.

Brazilian fullback Maxwell burst forward in the 33rd minute, sending in an early cross from the left, and Gameiro slid in to strike the ball into the net with his right foot.

While PSG failed to score again, they were rarely troubled at home on Saturday and their win took them to 15 points for the season, ahead of Lyon (14) Lorient (13) with Marseille on top with 18, although the leaders can move further ahead when they play Valenciennes on Sunday.

Lorient managed a 1-1 draw away to Evian thanks to an 86th-minute equaliser by Gilles Sunu after Saber Khelifa gave the home team the lead in the eighth minute.

Reigning champions Montpellier will hope they have turned their form around after a 2-0 victory away to Nancy.

Montpellier went into the match against Nancy with just one win from their first six matches but did enough to overcome the strugglers.

Younes Belhanda gave Montpellier the lead in the 67th minute when he received Karim Ait-Fana's pass at the top of the penalty area and curled his shot into the bottom left-hand corner of Nancy's net.

A stunning long-range strike from Souleymane Camara completed the visitors' victory as he brought down Remy Cabella's pass with his chest in the 90th minute and then blasted the ball past the outstretched fingers of Nancy goalkeeper Guy N'Dy Assembe.

In other Ligue 1 results, Nice drew 2-2 with Bastia, Ajaccio won 1-0 over Brest and Toulouse defeated Troyes 2-0.

Ancelotti not looking past Sochaux

29 September 2012 01:41

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti is not looking past his side's Ligue 1 opponents on Saturday, Sochaux, despite their lowly league position.

Sochaux are in 15th place in the Ligue 1 standings, but the Italian coach said he knows his big-money squad cannot afford to take Eric Hely's side lightly at the Par des Princes.

"We just look ahead to our next game with Sochaux," Ancelotti said.

"We did not talk about Porto, about Marseille, it was a good week of work, but only focused on the Sochaux game.

"We need to keep winning as we did in the last few weeks. Afterwards we will have a lot of work to think about for our next games.

"Yes I know Sochaux very well, they are a good team who actually play a good football.

"They won't come to defend, they'll come to have a good game, with intensity, because they have good organisation. We saw the last game they won against Troyes, it was very good."

Ligue 1 preview: PSG, Marseille look to keep form rolling

27 September 2012 15:11

Ligue 1 heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain host Sochaux on Saturday as leaders Marseille look to continue their unblemished start to the season.

PSG have scored eight and conceded just one goal in three consecutive wins in the league after starting the season slowly with three draws.

Since then, the capital club have certainly found their groove.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is already paying back his hefty transfer fee, scoring at a phenomenal rate with seven league goals in five games.

The Swede's double in PSG's 4-0 rout of Bastia on Saturday followed another he scored in the side's Champions League opener against Dynamo Kiev four days earlier.

The Paris outfit strolled ominously to a 4-1 win over the Ukrainian club with Carlo Ancelotti's side finally appearing to have hit full stride.

Sochaux forward Cedric Bakambu scored his first brace in Ligue 1 against Troyes in a 3-1 win last Saturday and will headline the attack for the visitors at the Parc de Princes, while one of PSG's other big signings, Ezequiel Lavezzi, is likely to miss with a thigh injury.

Top side Marseille continue to lead the way and can break a 42-year record set by Monaco if they win a seventh straight game to start the season, away to Valenciennes on Saturday.

Following the departure of Didier Deschamps who, conversely, guided the team to six straight losses to start last season and a 10th-place finish, new manager Elie Baup has endeared himself to the fans.

Marseille are still six points clear of third-placed PSG and four ahead of Lyon, who host Bordeaux on Sunday.

On Friday, Lille are away to Rennes having won only once in six games this season.

On Saturday, Ajaccio welcome Brest, Nancy host champions Montpellier, who are well down in 16th place, bottom-placed Troyes do battle with Toulouse, Evian entertain Lorient and Nice are at home to Bastia.

On Sunday, Saint-Etienne welcome Reims, who are undefeated in four games.