Paris, March 7 (BNA): Marseille’s inconsistent home performance could derail the club’s European ambitions as they lost 1-0 to Monaco to drop to third place in the French Ligue 1 on Sunday.
The two teams started the final match of the twenty-seventh round with great caution. Marseille right-back Valentin Rungier had the only chance in the first half with a low shot that goalkeeper Alexandre Nobile left in the 22nd minute, the Associated Press reported.
Monaco played a bigger goal after the break and opened the scoring in the 58th minute when Portuguese winger Gelson Martins scored a rebound after hitting the post by Kevin Volland.
Marseille have scored more points on the road than at the Velodrome this season and are two points behind second-placed Nice.
“We played on a higher level off the field in the second half,” Monaco midfielder Aurelien Chuamini told Amazon Prime Video. “With more selflessness, we were able to put pressure on them. We knew physically that their levels were going to drop a little bit.”
The two largest French teams qualify for the group stage of the Champions League, while only the third-placed team enters the third qualifying round of the lucrative European competition.
Monaco climbed to eighth place, five points behind the top four and a place in the European League.
Fourth-placed Rennes beat Angers 2-0 to claim their third win in a row and are one point ahead of Marseille. Benjamin Beuregood opened the scoring with a rebounding shot into the far corner in the 33rd minute. Gaetan Laborde doubled his lead from close range in the 87th. It was Laborde’s 14th goal in the league this season, trailing top scorer Wissam Ben Yedder. Angers suffered a sixth straight defeat to stay in 14th place.
Strasbourg lost ground in the race for European positions by conceding a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Reims. Jan Rechner Bellegaard put Strasbourg ahead with a half-volley from the edge of the penalty area in the 69th minute. But Reims substitute Jens Cajost equalized in the 84th minute with a free kick with his knee. Strasbourg remained in fifth place, two points behind Rennes.
He defeated Nantes Montpellier 2-0 to move to sixth place. Randall Colo Mane netted his 10th league goal of the season with a header from Ludovic Blass pass in the 69th minute. Nantes substitute Willem Goebbels put the score beyond doubt by scoring in stoppage time.
Defending champion Lille continued their late bid for a place in Europe with a 4-0 win over 10-man Clermont to stay level on points with Nantes. Portugal midfielder Renato Sanchez provided assists while Canadian striker Jonathan David netted eight goalscorers in all competitions with a corner kick in the 71st minute to score his 13th league goal of the season.
Denis Bouanga helped Saint-Etienne climb out of the relegation zone with an acrobatic volley in the 52nd minute in a 1-0 win over Metz. Saint-Étienne climbed to 17th, one point off the relegation zone.
“Our state of mind is flawless,” Bwanga told Amazon Prime Video. “Now we know how to win matches. We also know how to protect bullets. Unfortunately, there are still some details to fix. We are a real team. We will continue like this.”
Saint-Etienne’s form has improved under new coach Pascal Debraz, with 13 points from their last six matches. Dobras replaced Claude Puel as Saint-Etienne’s coach in December in a bid to avoid relegation. Saint-Étienne was last before Dobras was appointed.
Saint-Etienne, Troyes and Metz were tied on points with bottom club Bordeaux before kick-off.
He defeated Troy Bordeaux 2-0 to complete a five-game winning streak and move up to 16th. Bordeaux lived up to their reputation as the worst defense in the league by receiving two penalties. The hosts booed off the field after the final whistle.
On Saturday, Nice upset leaders Paris St Germain 1-0 to move to second place, while Brest beat Lens 1-0 to score their first away win since December and are close to safety.
On Friday, Lyon beat Lorient 4-1.