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Soccer News of Sunday, 22 March 2015

Source: goal.com

Jordan slams Lorient teammates

Ghana’s Jordan Ayew has delivered a scathing attack on his Lorient teammates after his side’s inability to take advantage of Paris Saint-Germain’s fragility at the Parc des Princes on Friday evening.

Les Merlus—who are in the midst of a Ligue 1 relegation battle—equalised through Ayew after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty opener. However, the Black Star failed to give his team the lead moments later when Marco Verratti headed off the line.

Ibrahimovic put a controversial week behind him to score a late double—including another from the penalty spot—to give Laurent Blanc’s side a 3-1 victory and put them back atop the French table.

“We gave them gifts,” rasped Jordan after the match, speaking to the BeInSport pitch-side reporter,

“we made childish mistakes.”

Defensively, Lorient struggled to contain Zlatan and his fellow attackers throughout the contest, and were forced into giving away two penalties.

The first came inside three minutes when goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte brought down the Swedish striker. Lamine Kone was guilty late on when his reckless, sprawling challenge in the box saw him take out Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore, leaving the referee with little choice.

“You pay cash against teams like that,” Jordan continued, “it’s always been the same since the beginning of the season.

“We are 15th [ed. now 17th] and we will keep playing like this right till the end. We show a pretty face but we take zero points, how do we manage it?

“At one point we have to be realistic. When we have the chance to equalise at the Parc [des Princes]…we had the opportunity to take a draw but we made childish mistakes.”

There is some truth in Jordan’s rant.

While the team’s ‘goals for’ column reads 34, putting them ninth in the league, their ‘goals against’ column isn’t so healthy. The Brittany-based club have conceded 41 goals this season, the 14th-worst defensive record in the division.

Following Saturday’s Ligue 1 action, Sylvain Ripoll’s outfit have dropped to 17th in the table. They have fallen behind Jonathan Mensah’s Evian Thonon Gaillard after the Pinks won against Montpellier Herault on Saturday and are only two points clear of 18th-place Toulouse.