Race for remaining Champions League spots in France remains wide open
PARIS (AP) — The race for the remaining Champions League places behind Paris Saint-Germain remains wide open in the French league after Marseille drew 1-1 at Lille on Sunday.
With two rounds of matches left, and PSG already crowned champion, second-placed Marseille missed the chance to open up a three-point gap on Monaco after goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli’s blunder in the 74th minute.
The top three teams qualify for the group stage of the Champions League, with the fourth team getting a spot in the qualifying rounds. Marseille has a one-point lead over Monaco, which won 3-1 at Saint-Etienne on Saturday, with a trio of chasing teams — Nice, Lille and Strasbourg — lagging one point further back.
Lille striker Jonathan David intercepted Rulli’s attempted pass inside the box and headed the ball toward Matias Fernandez Pardo, who shot past the goakeeper into the back of the net. Amine Gouiri had put Marseille in front in the 57th minute from Adrien Rabiot’s assist at the conclusion of a fine collective move.
PSG secured the French league title last month with six matches to spare but the fight for the Champions League places has not been lacking suspense. Just five points separate second-placed Marseille from seventh-placed Lyon.
Lyon’s hopes dented
Lyon’s hopes of European soccer next season took a blow as the seven-time French champions lost 2-1 against Lens.
Anass Zaroury scored the winner with a superb 30-meter strike into the top corner five minutes from time, soon after Georges Mikautadze leveled for the hosts with a header.
The result left Lyon outside of the European places, six points above eighth-placed Lens.
Lyon enjoyed much of the possession but lacked a cutting edge and went behind when Goduine Koyalipou scored following a corner in the 21st minute.
Allevinah’s first goal
Substitute Jim Allevinah scored his first goal for Angers in the French league as his club won 1-0 at Nantes to leapfrog its rival and take a big step towards survival in the top division.
In a match of few chances for both squads, Allevinah scored with a low strike in the 52nd minute. It was the first shot on target in the match.
Allevinah, a Gabon international, came on after 20 minutes as a replacement for the injured Zinedine Ferhat.
Angers moved to 14th place in the standings, one point above Nantes and two points above Le Havre, currently in the relegation playoff spot. Le Havre won 2-1 at Auxerre to move four points above the drop zone.
PSG suffered consecutive Ligue 1 losses for the first time in more than two years when it lost 2-1 at Strasbourg on Saturday.
With the match coming between the two legs of the Champions League semifinal against Arsenal, PSG coach Luis Enrique rotated his team, making 10 changes to his staring lineup. PSG will defend a 1-0 lead from the first leg on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes against the Gunners.
Also, Brest beat last-placed Montpellier 1-0.
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