Majeed Warris scores brace for Valenciennes

Ghana striker Abdul Majeed Waris underlined his scoring credentials in the French Ligue 1 after netting a brace in Valenciennes’ 2-2 home draw with Sochaux last Saturday.

The diminutive forward won a penalty and converted it for the game’s opener on 51 minutes.

After cutting into the area from the left, Waris was brought down by Lionel Zouma — older brother of Saint-Etienne’s Chelsea-bound Kurt Zouma — and picked himself up to calmly wrong-foot Yohann Pelé from the the spot.

Three minutes later, however, Sebastien Corchia proved that he too can be seen as a star winter transfer window recruit with the equaliser.

He produced a stunning long-range effort that left the slightly advanced Nicolas Penneteau with no chance.

Marseille loanee Jordan Ayew could have handed Sochaux a precious lead minutes later when his pace sent him clean through the home defence, but his composure one-on-one with Penneteau left a lot to be desired and his shot flew well over the goal before the hour mark.

Waris latched onto Maor Melikson’s low cross and rifled home from inside the area with just four  minutes to go.

It seemed the Ghanaian’s talent and efforts had got the job done, but Hervé Renard’s men fought on bravely. 

Marseille, meanwhile, maintained their push for European football with a 1-0 win over Lorient.

 Andre-Pierre Gignac’s goal with just eight minutes to play handed all three points to Marseille who extended their unbeaten league run to five games.

 Lorient have now gone four games without a win and look to be condemned to a mid-table finish despite having 13 Ligue 1 games remaining.