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| Sunday, September 15, 2002 01:26 EST |
Celtic lurking one point behind rival
[Reuters]
GLASGOW -- Maurice Ross scored his first goal for Rangers as the Scottish Premier League leaders won 2-0 at 10-man Livingston, while champions Celtic stay a point behind in second place after they beat Hibernian 1-0 at home.
Barry Ferguson scored Rangers second goal three minutes from time to give the Glasgow side a hard-fought victory over Livingston, who had Togo midfielder Cherif Toure-Maman sent off for a late tackle on Fernando Ricksen just before the hour.
"The players deserve a lot of credit for the appetite they have shown up to now. I'm pleased to have come through that one today," Rangers manager Alex McLeish told reporters.
"I was wondering when Maurice would score a Rangers goal, but the sending off was a key moment in the game."
Celtic stayed in touch with their city rivals at the top of the table thanks to Welsh striker John Hartson's second goal in successive games after 31 minutes.
"I never thought we would have a comfortable afternoon and I'm just delighted to win the game," said Celtic manager Martin O'Neill.
"John Hartson is a goalscorer and he will score his quota of goals for us this season. But everybody did really well for us and overall I'm very pleased."
Kilmarnock is six points behind Celtic in joint-third place with Dunfermline, which won 2-1 at Dundee United, after a 2-2 draw at home to Aberdeen.
Rangers had the majority of the play in the second-half at Livingston, who finished third last season, but had German goalkeeper Stefan Klos to thank for keeping them level at
halftime.
The former Borussia Dortmund keeper was tested early on as he saved an effort from Francisco Quino.
Rangers then began to exert themselves as Claudio Caniggia crossed for Ricksen, but his shot was clawed away by Livingston goalkeeper Javier Sanchez Broto.
Klos was back in action to stop a Barry Wilson effort before producing two more fine saves from Quino and Cherif.
Livingston's Rolando Zarate should have scored just before halftime when he raced clear but failed to round Klos, who dived to clasp the ball brilliantly.
Rangers were helped when Cherif, who had been booked for a first-half challenge on Craig Moore, was sent off for a late tackle on Ricksen.
They scored the first goal moments later when Barry Ferguson passed to Ross and the young Scotland defender drove the ball beyond Broto.
Ferguson added the second with a penalty after Danish winger Peter Lovenkrands was fouled by Marvin Andrews in the box.
FRANCE: Newly-promoted Nice retained top spot in the French first divison after a goalless draw at En Avant Guingamp on Saturday, while 10-man Auxerre stayed level
with the leaders on 14 points after their 1-1 draw at Sochaux.
In-form Guingamp moved up to third two points behind, while Paris St. Germain jumped four places in the table to fourth and also have 12 points after a 3-0 win over Strasbourg.
Lens's 1-0 home win over Stade Rennes saw it also leap four places to fifth, but defending champions Lyon slipped three spots to sixth after a 1-0 defeat at Nantes.
Auxerre had to come from behind at Sochaux as striker Francileudo Santos received a 40-meter pass from Mickael Pagis before outmaneuvering two Auxerre defenders and sending the ball into the far corner on the stroke of halftime.
The Burgundy side were reduced to 10 men when defender Jean-Alain Boumsong was red-carded for stopping Santos as he was about to score in the 54th minute.
But Auxerre made sure it kept pace with Nice at the top when young forward Benjani Mwaruwari equalized 10 minutes later.
Paris St. Germain clinched its most convincing victory of the season by thrashing promoted Strasbourg 3-0 at home.
Argentine striker Martin Cardetti hit a double, with a goal in each half, after Fabrice Fiorese had opened the scoring in the ninth minute.
The victory was long overdue for the Parisians after they were held to draws by the two other promoted clubs Ajaccio and Nice this season.
"It's a fine win. We played pretty well tonight and I must pay tribute to my guys," coach Luis Fernandez said. "We are improving swiftly even if we can play much better."
Substitute John Utaka scored an injury-time winner to give Lens a hard-earned home win over bottom club Stade Rennes.
But champion Olympique Lyon, reduced to 10 men after the 32nd minute sending off of Mahamadou Diara, slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Nantes after striker Marama Vahirua netted the winner.
The result is a blow to Lyon who begins its Champions League campaign next week with a tough match at Ajax Amsterdam.
A second-half goal by substitute striker Ibrahima Bakayoko handed Olympique Marseille a 2-1 victory over Girondins Bordeaux for its first home win of the season.
Captain Frank Leboeuf put Marseille ahead with a 15th-minute penalty after defender Kodjo Afanou had fouled Lamine Sakho in the area. It was only the third goal conceded by Girondins in seven matches.
Bordeaux squandered a chance to equalize in the 26th minute when striker Pedro Pauleta failed to convert a penalty awarded for handball by defender Daniel Van Buyten.
Portuguese international Pauleta made amends seven minutes after halftime when he beat Marseille goalkeeper Vedran Runje with a powerful 25-meter free kick.
Bakayoko, who replaced Sakho just after the hour, fired the winner from close range in the 75th after good work by Brazilian Fernandao.
Bordeaux finished with 10 men after defender David Sommeil was sent off for a second bookable offense on Fernandao five minutes from time.
The victory took Marseille up two places to eighth, level on on 11 points with Girondins which slipped two places to seventh.
"It was really important to win here," said Marseille coach Alain Perrin. "Especially against such a strong side as Bordeaux."
HOLLAND: PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and Feyenoord warmed up for next week's Champions League matches with easy wins in the Dutch domestic league on Saturday.
PSV Eindhoven beat RKC Waalwijk 4-0 to stay top, Ajax remained second with a 2-0 victory over Zwolle and Feyenoord are third after winning 5-1 at Twente Enschede.
After four matches, PSV and Ajax have a 100 percent record with 12 points and lead Feyenoord by two.
PSV's Mateja Kezman scored a hat-trick against RKC, including PSV's 3,700th goal since the introduction of professional soccer in the Netherlands in 1956.
PSV, which has scored 11 goals this season and conceded none, visits Auxerre in the Champions League.
Ajax showed little inventive soccer against defensive Zwolle and it took the Amsterdam side almost an hour before veteran Richard Witschge broke the deadlock. Christian Chivu made it 2-0 from the penalty spot.
Ajax Amsterdam, which hosts Olympique Lyon next week, welcomed Jari Litmanen back at his old club after a spell at Liverpool. Litmanen, who replaced injured Rafael van der Vaart, made a good impression in an otherwise mediocre Ajax display.
UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord enjoyed an excellent dress rehearsal ahead of their Champions League match at home to Juventus. Shinji Ono and Thomas Buffel both scored twice with Pierre van Hooijdonk netting the other.
Groningen suffered its fourth consecutive defeat and stay bottom without a point after losing 4-2 at Excelsior Rotterdam.
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