Marseille had an extra player for an hour but drew 1-1 at home in the French league to defending champion Lille and moved two points behind second-place Nice on Sunday.
Turkey winger Cengiz Under equalised for Marseille with a brilliant curling strike into the right corner after a quick corner from Dimitri Payet in the 75th. Third-place Marseille has played a game less than Nice.
After Marseille goalkeeper Pau Lopez made a fine save from veteran Turkey striker Burak Yilmaz’s shot, Dutch defender Sven Botman headed firmly in from the ensuing corner in the 15th minute. It could have got worse as the alert Lopez kept out Yilmaz’s point-blank header from Renato Sanches’ cross moments later.
Despite having midfielder Benjamin Andre sent off for a second yellow card in the 32nd, Lille pushed forward and winger Jonathan Bamba drew a fine save from Lopez with a powerful shot. Yilmaz thought he’d set up Bamba in the 70th for a 2-0 lead, but the goal was ruled out for a narrow off-side following a video review.
The impressive Under almost won it during stoppage time with a brilliant dipping shot that led to an equally fine save from goalkeeper Ivo Grbic.
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Earlier, Rennes bounced back in style from three straight defeats by routing struggling Bordeaux 6-0 at home to reclaim fourth place. Fourth guarantees a place in next season’s Europa League but Rennes is aiming for the top three and a spot in the Champions League.
Striker Gaetan Laborde and winger Martin Terrier each scored to reach 10 league goals apiece this season — as many as Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe.
Terrier put Rennes ahead and captain Benjamin Bourigeaud netted just before the break. Laborde struck on the hour before Adrien Truffert scored in the 69th minute and fellow substitute Serhou Guirassy netted twice in the closing stages.
Philippe Clement’s first home game in charge of Monaco saw France striker Wissam Ben Yedder score twice in a 4-0 home win against Clermont Foot. Monaco moved ahead of Lens on goal difference into fifth.
Strasbourg climbed to seventh after rallying to win 3-1 at home to Montpellier, which was seeking a fifth straight win.
Midfielder Florent Mollet gave Montpellier an early lead, but Strasbourg scored three times in the last 15 minutes through Majeed Waris, Adrien Thomasson and veteran striker Kevin Gameiro.
OTHER MATCHES
Striker Moussa Dembele’s first-half penalty was enough for midtable Lyon to win 1-0 at Troyes. It was Dembele’s 50th goal since joining Lyon from Scottish club Celtic in 2018.
Troyes is in 17th but Metz moved away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 win at Reims and strugglers Lorient drew 0-0 at home to Angers. Runaway league leader PSG remains 11 points clear of Nice after a scrappy 2-0 home win against Brest on Saturday.
- 1. Marseille 1-1 Lille
- 2. Rennes 6-0 Bordeaux
- 3. Monaco 4-0 Clermont Foot
- 4. Lorient 0-0 Angers
- 5. Troyes 0-1 Lyon
- 6. Strasbourg 3-1 Montpellier
- 7. Reims 0-1 Metz.
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