Lille overwhelm lacklustre Lyon

LOSC Lille Métropole took a giant stride towards sealing France's final UEFA Champions League berth as they stunned newly-crowned Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais 4-0 at Villeneuve-d'Ascq. The win takes them two-points clear of Olympique de Marseille, who were disappointingly held by relegated RC Strasbourg.

Weakened side
With a fourth successive title already sewn up, Lyon coach Gérard Houllier opted to rest Grégory Coupet, Juninho Pernambucano, Cris, Mahamadou Diarra and Tiago for the penultimate game of the season and their replacements were made to pay against a marauding Lille team. After dominating the opening stages, Geoffrey Dernis broke the deadlock just after the half-hour with a smart chip over Rémy Vercoutre.

Odemwingie double
The replacement goalkeeper was to endure a miserable first league start of the season, as Peter Odemwingie all but sealed the win with two goals in as many minutes shortly after the restart. Jean Makoun completed the rout late on as Lille completed a stunning double over Houllier's team, having inflicted their first league defeat of the season in December. It leaves Claude Puel's team well set to claim a place in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round after Marseille were held by Strasbourg.

Papin announcement
Things looked positive for Jean Fernandez's team when Samir Nasri opened the scoring just after the restart but Yacine Abdessadki and Rudy Carlier quickly overturned the scoreline. Franck Ribéry earned a point with 17 minutes remaining but Strasbourg, who have announced that former Marseille legend Jean-Pierre Papin will replace Jacky Duguépéroux as coach next season, nevertheless dealt a heavy blow to their hopes of finishing third.

Frei returns
Neither Stade Rennais FC nor RC Lens could capitalise on Marseille's slip as they were held to goalless draws. Rennes welcomed back Alexander Frei against AS Saint-Etienne following a lengthy lay-off, but it was not to be a dream return as the Swiss international missed a gilt-edged chance late on at AS Saint-Etienne. Meanwhile, Lens shared the spoils at Le Mans UC 72, while FC Sochaux-Montbéliard drew 1-1 against ES Troyes Aube Champagne and Toulouse FC shared six goals with AS Monaco FC.

Auxerre triumph
Elsewhere, FC Girondins de Bordeaux ensured outgoing goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau's final home game ended in disappointment as they beat FC Nantes Atlantique 1-0, and there were also victories for OCG Nice and AC Ajaccio. AJ Auxerre were similarly triumphant, ending a six-game winless streak at AS Nancy-Lorraine.