Marseille, April 11 (BNA) Marseille extended its victories to seven matches in all competitions to take second place in the French League with a 2-0 victory over Montpellier.
Senegalese striker Amine Harit set up Bamba Deng for the opening match in the ninth minute. Turkish winger Cengiz Ender doubled the lead with a penalty kick in the 19th minute after Montpellier midfielder Jordan Ferry knocked out Gerson.
Montpellier goalkeeper Jonas Oumlin was sent off in the 90th minute for fouling Luis Henrique outside the penalty area, the Associated Press reported.
Marseille fell 12 points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, but kept three points behind Rennes, who is third.
The two biggest French teams enter the Champions League group stage, while the third-placed club advances to the third qualifying round for the lucrative European Championship.
“We are at a very good level,” Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi told Amazon Prime Video. “We are facing very good games now. We will be ready for the final sprint.”
Also on Sunday, Nice’s Champions League hopes took a hit after a 3-0 defeat to 10-man Lens left the side in fifth place, five points behind Rennes.
Lens fell to 10 men in the 17th minute when winger Masadio Haidara was sent off for kicking Yusuf Atal while trying to clear the ball.
Not satisfied with the referee’s decision, Lens fans threw projectiles onto the field, forcing the stadium hosts to use the net in the 34th minute to protect Nice striker Amine Guerre, who was taking a free kick.
Substitute Arnaud Kalimundo, who replaced Lens, scored a goal in the half-time with a gradual shot in the 51st minute. Malian international Cheikh Doukuri added the second goal with a shot in the upper corner in the 55th minute. Kalimundo overcame the offside trap to make the score 3-0 in the 67th minute.
Nice itself ended with only nine players, as Mario Lemina received a second yellow card for a foul on Doukuri in the 57th minute, and the Brazilian central defender Dante was given a red card for a scissors intervention on Kalimundo in stoppage time.
“We conceded two goals with 11 players for 10 because we thought we no longer needed to defend and did not respect the match,” Nice coach Christophe Galtier told Canal Plus TV. “We played with the Lens team made up of competitors, Lens played a nice team made up of tourists.”
Lens climbed to eighth place, four points behind Nice and the Europa Conference League.
Fourth-placed Strasbourg extended its unbeaten run to nine matches with a 1-1 draw with Lyon.
Strasbourg striker Ludovic Ajurk missed a high ball for Ibrahima Sissoko, who took advantage of a defensive error to pass the ball past Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopez in the 20th minute. Cameroon’s Karl Toko Ekambi equalized in the 90th minute with a cross from Leo Dubois.
Strasbourg is currently in the Europa League, but is only four points short of the Champions League qualifying spot. The team’s best achievement in the last 20 seasons was the 10th in 2020.
Sixth-placed Monaco beat Troy 2-1 with two goals from Caio Henrique and Kevin Volland, one point off the Europa Conference League center.
Lille drew 1-1 with Angers to lose ground in the race for European spots, two points behind Monaco. Angers took an own goal from Lille defender Thiago Gallo in the 65th minute. But Kosovo winger Edon Zegrova equalized with a long-range shot in the upper corner in the 74th minute.
In the Brittany derby, Brest captain Brendan Chardonnat saved the 1-1 draw by converting a rebound in the 67th minute to disallow Nantes striker Randall Colo Mane’s 12th league goal in the 11th minute. The match was suspended twice as fans threw flares on the pitch in the inning The first then the fans invaded the stadium in the second half.
Bordeaux cut a drought in four games to beat Metz 3-1 and lead two points from safety and one point from the relegation zone. The hosts recovered from a 1-0 deficit with goals from Portuguese winger Ricardo Mangas, Senegal international Mbaye Niang and South Korean striker Hwang Ui-Go.
It was Metz’s third loss in a row that relegated to last place.