French hitman Gignac suffers injury scare

By Paul Kelly

Monday, November 09, 2009

FRANCE’S first-choice front man André-Pierre Gignac suffered an injury scare during Toulouse’s 3-2 win against Rennes in Ligue 1 yesterday.

Gignac was helped off with a damaged ankle 25 minutes after scoring the winning goal – his 10th of the season. But he limped back for the closing stages and was moving more freely as the final whistle sounded.

France team chief Raymond Domenech will assess Gignac’s condition when the squad assembles at Clairefontaine this evening.

Arsenal’s Abou Diaby is likely to be missing, after Arsene Wenger said yesterday the versatile midfielder will be out for three weeks due to a calf injury sustained against Wolves on Saturday, a match in which William Gallas was booked for fouling Kevin Doyle. The French Football Federation had not confirmed Diaby’s withdrawal last night.

Thierry Henry marked his return from injury by heading his first league goal of the season as Barcelona beat Real Mallorca 4-2 on Saturday night. Fellow striker Karim Benzema failed to score and was substituted in the 69th minute of Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Atletico.

Elsewhere, French back-up striker Loic Remy scored a dramatic late winner to take his season’s tally to six as Nice shocked Paris-Saint Germain 1-0 at Parc des Princes on Saturday night. And Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda, the goal-keepers vying for the No. 1 jersey at Croke Park, conceded 10 goals between them as Lyon drew 5-5 with Marseille in an amazing match last night. Holding midfielder Jérémy Toulalan, continuing to act as an emergency central defender, scored a last-gasp own goal to deprive Lyon of victory.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, November 09, 2009