DOLBERG SCORES AS NICE MOVE LEVEL WITH PSG

Paris, Sept. 22: Former Ajax striker Kasper Dolberg scored his first goal for billionairebacked Nice as they moved level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain with a 2-1 win over Dijon on Saturday.

Dolberg, 21, who left the Champions League semifinalists over the summer, brought his side level after Julio Tavares’ opener for the visitors, who are yet to win this season.

African Cup of Nations champion Youcef Atal then scored the secondhalf winner for Patrick Vieira’s side, who were brought by British petrochemical businessman and owner of Ineos, Jim Ratcliffe in August.

“It’s good that he (Dolberg) scored. It will do him a lot of good,” Vieira said.

“It’s always better to be high up than lower down. But there is a lot of work in front of us.”

The victory means Nice join champions PSG on 12 points but the Parisians sit at the top of the table on goal difference before they travel to Lyon in Sunday’s headline tie of the weekend.

Earlier on Saturday, Valere Germain’s second goal in as many games salvaged a 1-1 draw for Marseille against Montpellier in a fiery encounter that saw three players sent off in a stoppage time bust-up.

The match ended in chaos when Boubacar Kamara and Jordan Ferri were shown red cards for their part in a late scuffle before Dimitri Payet was given his marching orders for losing his temper with referee Amaury Delerue after being booked for a trip on Montpellier’s Vitorino Hilton.

“Dim (Payet) said something to the referee who was very incisive with his red, but for Kamara, it’s unacceptable,” VillasBoas said.

“We’re going to appeal Bouba’s one, he told me he did nothing.

“The game didn’t deserve to finish like that, I don’t know what happened with the referee for him to lose his head like that and give a red instead of a yellow,” Villas-Boas added.