{"id":299985,"date":"2023-12-12T18:40:16","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T18:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=299985"},"modified":"2023-12-12T18:40:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T18:40:16","slug":"benjamin-mendy-scores-on-his-first-start-since-being-cleared-of-rape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/benjamin-mendy-scores-on-his-first-start-since-being-cleared-of-rape\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Mendy scores on his first start since being cleared of rape"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Former Man City defender Benjamin Mendy scores on his first start since returning to France after being cleared of rape allegations<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Benjamin returned to France in the summer after being cleared of rape<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He scored on his first start for Lorient on Sunday against Marseille in Ligue 1<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Man City have dipped, but Gary Neville is WRONG to say they\u2019re complacent &#8211; Listen to It&#8217;s All Kicking Off<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Former Manchester City full back Benjamin Mendy scored in Lorient&#8217;s 4-2 defeat by Marseille on Sunday on his first start since being cleared of rape and attempted rape earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>Mendy, who became City&#8217;s most expensive defender in their history when he joined for \u00a352million in 2017, returned to his homeland on a free transfer in July, just days after being acquitted of raping two women.<\/p>\n<p>He has made five substitute appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit this season, and was finally handed his first start on Sunday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Having been booked in the first half, he netted seven minutes after the break to give his side a glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n<p>However, Lorient were unable to get back into the match as they slumped to a home defeat.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/11\/08\/78813637-12849407-image-a-6_1702284290574.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Benjamin Mendy (pictured) scored on his first start for Lorient against Marseille on Sunday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/11\/08\/78813641-12849407-image-m-8_1702284362324.jpg\" height=\"452\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>It was his first start since the former Man City defender was cleared of rape in July<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/11\/08\/78813649-12849407-image-a-9_1702284404015.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mendy&#8217;s side still lost at home as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice for Marseille<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Mendy was overshadowed by ex-Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang\u00a0who scored twice, while former Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba also got on the scoresheet in a comprehensive victory for Marseille.<\/p>\n<p>Mendy was replaced with 10 minutes remaining as Marseille saw out the game to seal all three points on the road.<\/p>\n<p>The result leaves Lorient 16th in the Ligue 1 table, just two points above bottom club Lyon, while Marseille jump to sixth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 2018 World Cup winner is looking to sue former club City for \u00a310m in unpaid wages after they stopped paying his salary when he was accused of rape in September 2021.<\/p>\n<p>His final appearance for the club came in August 2021, and he was not considered for selection before being released when his contract expired in June.<\/p>\n<p>He was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault following a court case in January, and was then acquitted of two further counts of rape six months later.<\/p>\n<p>He wept after the jury delivered their verdict following three hours of deliberation at Chester Crown Court, with his lawyers vowing that Mendy was set to &#8216;rebuild his life&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Mendy refused to comment outside the court, instead uttering just one word &#8216;Alhamdulillah&#8217; &#8211; an Arabic phrase meaning: &#8216;Praise be to God&#8217;.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12849407\/Former-Man-City-defender-Benjamin-Mendy-scores-start-returning-France-cleared-rape-attempted-rape.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Man City defender Benjamin Mendy scores on his first start since returning to France after being cleared of rape allegations Benjamin returned to France in the summer after being cleared of rape He scored on his first start for Lorient on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Benjamin Mendy scores on his first start since being cleared of rape - Sports-Life-News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/benjamin-mendy-scores-on-his-first-start-since-being-cleared-of-rape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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