Karim Ziani

Karim Ziani Transfer Rumours

15 08 2007

Valenciennes forward Steve Savidan scored a brace and spectacular late winner to stun historic rivals Marseille 2-1 in another long-awaited French league encounter Wednesday.

Savidan's 86th minute strike handed the north-east side their 2nd triumph from 3 league games so far whilst Marseille have yet to register a win having already drawn their 1st 2 games of the season.

Valenciennes and south-coast side Marseille have little historic rivarly to boast of.

However both clubs were inextricably linked since they were involved in a match fixing scandal in 1993, which ultimately led to Marseille's dramatic relegation to the French 2nd division shortly after being crowned European Cup champions.

Inspite of this being their 3rd league meeting since their well-publicised scandal in 1993, a Valenciennes v Marseille encounter is always one to watch.

On this occasion, Marseille seemed to have their 1st league triumph of the season tucked away after Karim Ziani had given them a 1-0 lead when he slotted home Benoit Cheyrou's pass past Nicolas Penneteau in the Valenciennes goal in the 56th minute.

Ziani then came close to his double with a rasping 20-metre drive hardly 2 minutes later, his shot being parried by Penneteau at full stretch.

But only after the hour mark Valenciennes levelled in spectacular style to relaunch their bid to hold off their rivals.

Habib Beye's clearance fell to Sebastien Roudet, who then rounded the Marseille defender to send in a superb cross for Savidan who headed past Cedric Carrasso from 6 yards out.

Valenciennes were dramatically revived and Marseille continued to press in the closing stages however the visitors ultimately failed to create goalscoring chances.

Both sides were visibly tiring, even though Marseille were given a huge fright in the 82nd minute when the ball fell to Gregory Pujol.

Inspite of having time to pick his spot the Valenciennes midfielder decided to hit his effort 1st time, and it was parried by Carrasso.

4 minutes later the hosts were in the end given reason to party when Savidan claimed the winner with a free kick from 20 metres which left Carrasso with no chance.

05 08 2007

France's UEFA Champions League contenders Marseille and Toulouse both failed to fire as the 2007/2008 domestic season got underway on Saturday.

Last season's runners up Marseille were held to a 0-0 draw at newly-promoted Strasbourg, whilst Toulouse, who will face English giants Liverpool in their qualifier to Europe's top club competition, slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Valenciennces.

Inspite of having his high profile summer transfers of Gael Givet, Benoit Cheyrou, Boudewijn Zenden, Djibril Cisse and Karim Ziani on the pitch, Albert Emon's Marseille side struggled to break down the home team. Midfielder Ziani, who was brought from Sochaux to fill the gap left by Franck Ribery's transfer to Bayern Munich, was the only new recruit to show glimpses of class.

"To be satisfied with an away draw, why not? However, we cannot be satisfied with the rhythm of the match," mentioned Emon. "We did not triumph good balls in midfield to feed our forwards and up front there is some poor communication, because we did not get 3 or 4 passes between our strikers."

Toulouse were undone by Valenciennces forward Johan Audel, who hit the French season's 1st hat trick. Audel opened the scoring in the 6th minute for Valenciennes, who finished 17th last season, only one place above the relegation zone.

Toulouse levelled through midfielder Nicholas Dieuze, however Audel went on to complete his hat trick.

Meanwhile, Rennes lost 2-0 to Nancy. Midfielder Marc-Antoine Fortune silenced the home supporters on the 36th minute with Youssouf Hadji doubling the scoreline only 4 minutes later.

Rennes, who finished 4th in the 2006/07 season, will hope their display levels pick up if they are to mount a serious challenge in the UEFA Cup this season.

Paul le Guen's Paris Saint-Germain were dominated throughout their match with French Cup holders Sochaux in an uninspiring 0-0 draw at the Parc des Princes, inspite of forward Pauleta, last season's leading goal scorer, hitting the post on 3 occasions. However, it needed goalie Mickael Landreau to put be in top form to keep the vistors at bay for a share of the points.

Laurent Blanc made his managerial debut with Bordeaux, and his side beat veteran coach Guy Roux's Lens 1-0. Former Man Utd and Nice player David Bellion's 30th minute goal went unanswered as Blanc's Bordeaux, who will compete in this season's UEFA Cup, got their campaign off to an ideal start.

Champions Lyon are in action Sunday when they kick start their title defence at home against Auxerre.

25 07 2007

Ligue 1 runners up Olympique de Marseille sign promising 22 year old goalie Steve Mandanda on loan from 2nd division side Le Havre AC.

Born in Kinshasa, the capital of DR Congo, Mandanda is a French U21 international and has appeared in 67 league games for Le Havre over the last 2 seasons, however has yet to make his debut in the French top flight.

He will meet up with his new team mates at their pre season training base at Divonnes-les-Bains. Cedric Carrasso is probably going to be the club's 1st-choice goalie as they start their Ligue 1 campaign on 4 August.

The UEFA Champions League group-stage contenders have already signed Djibril Cisse, Boudewijn Zenden, Gaël Givet and Karim Ziani in the summer.

30 06 2007

Algeria midfielder Karim Ziani has joined French side Olympique Marseille from Ligue 1 rivals Sochaux.

The 24 year old signed a 4 year deal after the Champions League contenders parted with US$ 11 million.

Ziani joined Sochaux a year ago after being voted Ligue 2 Players' Player of the Year for his contribution to Lorient's promotion to the top flight.

He made 36 league appearances last season and scored 8 goals.

The Algerian was a member of the Sochaux side that defeated Marseille in the French Cup final to earn a place in the Uefa Cup.

Ziani expects to be a key player for Marseille, who qualified for the group stage of the Champions League following a 4 year absence.