Paris, Jan. 17 (BNA): Marseille scored an extra player for an hour but drew 1-1 at home in the French Ligue 1 against defending champion Lille and two points behind second-placed Nice on Sunday.
Cengiz equalized the rarest Turkey winger for Marseille with a superb shot in the right corner after a quick corner kick from Dimitri Payet in the 75th minute.
The Associated Press reported that third-placed Marseille played a game less than Nice.
After Marseille goalkeeper Pau Lopez parried a superb shot from veteran Turkey striker Burak Yilmaz, Dutch defender Sven Putman headed home from the ensuing corner in the 15th minute.
It could have made matters worse as the alert Lopez parried Yilmaz’s header from Renato Sanchez’s cross moments later.
Although midfielder Benjamin Andre was sent off for a second yellow card in the 32nd minute, Lille went ahead and winger Jonathan Bamba saved well from Lopez with a powerful shot.
Yilmaz thought he had made Bamba in the 70th minute to lead 2-0, but the goal was disallowed due to a minor offside after a video review.
The impressive Ander almost won the title in stoppage time with a superb shot that led to a superb save from goalkeeper Ivo Gerbic.
Earlier, Rennes regained his style from three consecutive defeats by defeating struggling Bordeaux 6-0 at home to reclaim fourth place.
Fourth place guarantees a place in the European League next season, but Rennes is seeking to secure the top three places and qualify for the Champions League.
Striker Gaitan Laborde and winger Martin Terrier have both scored 10 goals in the league this season – as has Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe.
Terrier put Rennes ahead and captain Benjamin Beuregood scored before the end of the first half. Laborde scored in the 69th minute before Adrian Travert scored two goals in the 69th minute and fellow substitute Serho Guirassi scored twice in the last minutes.
Philippe Clement’s first home game in charge of Monaco saw French striker Wissam Ben Yedder score twice in a 4-0 home win against Clermont Foot. Monaco led Lens by goal difference to fifth place.
Strasbourg climbed to seventh after rebounding to win 3-1 at home against Montpellier, who was seeking a fifth win in a row.
Midfielder Florent Mollet gave Montpellier an early lead but Strasbourg scored three times in the last 15 minutes through Majid Warez, Adrian Thomason and veteran striker Kevin Gameiro.
Other matches
A penalty kick scored by striker Moussa Dembele in the first half was enough for Lyon to win 1-0 over Troyes. It was Dembele’s 50th goal since joining Lyon from Scottish club Celtic in 2018.
Troyes are 17th but Metz moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win at Reims and struggling Lorient drew 0-0 at home to Angers.
Paris Saint-Germain, the fugitive league leaders, remains 11 points ahead of Nice, after its 2-0 victory over Brest on Saturday.