Away win keeps Lille in contention

By Chris Burke

LOSC Lille Métropole consolidated in second place in Ligue 1 with an away victory while two late goals earned Olympique de Marseille an unlikely 2-2 draw away to FC Nantes Atlantique but they still fell out of the three UEFA Champions League places as closest rivals Lille and AS Monaco FC both won.

Lille success
Second-placed Lille strengthened their own claims for a place in next season's Champions League with a hard-fought 2-1 success away to RC Strasbourg. Matt Moussilou and Stéphane Dumont put the northern side in the clear, but they needed to defend well after Mamadou Niang's goal sparked a late rally by the hosts.

Quint double
Marseille's midweek 'collective therapy' session looked to have had no effect as Olivier Quint struck twice to give Nantes a comfortable two-goal lead, with the second coming just 40 seconds into the second half. Philippe Troussier's men seemed to be heading for a fourth defeat in five games, but Benoît Pedretti gave the visitors hope with a thunderous shot 20 minutes from the end and Koke snatched a point with an 83rd-minute equaliser.

Monaco third
It was not enough to stop Marseille dropping down to fourth, though, as Monaco moved one point ahead with a 2-1 victory at home to Toulouse FC. Javier Saviola opened the scoring ten minutes after the interval and Ernesto Chevantόn made sure of the result from the spot nine minute later, before David Suarez got a consolation for Toulouse.

Rennes pressure
Keeping the pressure on the frontrunners, Stade Rennais FC won impressively at FC Istres with goals from Toifilou Maoulida and Alexander Frei securing a 2-0 success that effectively condemned the bottom club to relegation. Patrick Leugueun was dismissed for Istres and Jean-Noël Perrier Doumbé went the same way for their opponents as Rennes moved within two points of Marseille.

Bastia joy
In the day's big relegation battle, Pierre-Yves André's strike gave SC Bastia a precious 1-0 win at SM Caen that lifted them above their opponents and into 18th, three points from safety. Elsewhere, RC Lens defeated FC Sochaux-Montbéliard 3-2 and the matches between AC Ajaccio and FC Girondins de Bordeaux, and AS Saint-Etienne and FC Metz both ended in goalless draws. Tomorrow, leaders Olympique Lyonnais can take a significant step towards the title if they win away to AJ Auxerre.