Ligue 1: Monaco beats Lorient 3-1 to keep pressure on Marseille

Ligue 1: Marseille plays relegation-threatened Troyes later Sunday. Victory would move Marseille above Lens and into second place behind leader Paris Saint-Germain.

Monaco’s Russian midfielder Aleksandr Golovin (L)celebrates with Monaco’s French forward Wissam Ben Yedder after scoring his team’s second goal during the French L1 football match between AS Monaco and FC Lorient. | Photo Credit: AFP

AS Monaco moved level on points with third-place Marseille with a 3-1 home win over Lorient in the ligue 1 on Sunday.

Marseille plays relegation-threatened Troyes later Sunday. Victory would move Marseille above Lens and into second place behind leader Paris Saint-Germain.

Midfielders Krépin Diatta and Aleksandr Golovin scored in the first half for Monaco. Forward Kevin Volland made it 3-0 early in the second half before striker Ibrahima Koné replied for Lorient with a late penalty.

Meanwhile, Lille won 2-1 at home to Montpellier to reclaim fifth place from Rennes in the chase for a Europa League spot.

Montpellier led through defender Issiaga Sylla’s goal midway through the first half. Lille equalized in the 70th, thanks to Jonathan David’s 20th league goal. It moved the Canada striker level at the top of the scoring charts with Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé. Veteran winger Remy Cabella hit the winner for Lille three minutes later.

OTHER MATCHES

Auxerre eased its relegation worries by beating French Cup finalist Nantes 2-1 at home to move up to 14th place.

Veteran striker Kevin Gameiro was among the scorers as Strasbourg beat 19th-place Ajaccio 3-1 but stayed in the relegation zone in 17th because Brest beat midtable Nice 1-0 at home to remain 16th.

Midtable Clermont beat last-place Angers 2-1 at home.

On Saturday, Mbappé’s goal in leader PSG’s 3-1 home win against Lens made him PSG’s all-time leading scorer in the league with 139 goals.