Paris (AFP)

Manhandled, bullied in Lille, Marseille found the resources to win 2-1 Sunday in Ligue 1, making the hole in the podium race ahead of Rennes (3rd), beaten 1-0 in Reims, and Losc (4th) . Lyon (11th), hampered by Strasbourg (1-1), is far, very far ...

- Marseille, never shot -

At the end of the 25th day, this OM has a good head of dolphin of Paris SG: in a clash between direct competitors for the Champions League, the team of André Villas-Boas suffered a thousand evils in front of the Lille breakers before carrying the thrust in the space of two minutes, by Valère Germain on a ball deflected by Reinildo against his camp (67th) and Dario Benedetto (69th).

At the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda delayed the deadline for a long time with his spectacular parades (4th, 15th) but he could only touch the ball on the small lob of Victor Osimhen, perfectly launched in the space (51st), the first goal conceded in L1 for OM in 2020.

At the bottom of the hole, Marseille could have sunk, especially when Valentin Rongier too softly drew a penalty obtained by Bouna Sarr and stopped by Mike Maignan (60th).

But the Marseille team never gave up and these are two scorers hitherto in bad shape, Germain and Benedetto, who made up for the absence of the playing master Dimitri Payet, spared: Germain's head deflected by a defender on corner, then Germain center for Benedetto.

In short, in two minutes, Marseille (2nd, 52 pts) reversed everything and sent a direct competitor to twelve points, a chasm ... With Rennes relegated to eleven lengths, Lille at twelve, the hole is made and OM can dream of the great Europe!

- Rennes is no longer advancing -

Conversely, the Stade Rennes seems to be marking time, with only one victory in L1 over the last five days.

The 1-0 defeat in Reims hurts, especially after a closed match that was settled only on a penalty obtained and transformed by the Malian striker El Bilal Touré (72nd).

The situation in Rennes is complicated: third place (41 pts), saved by virtue of the defeat of Lille (4th, 40 pts), finds itself nevertheless threatened by a pack of pursuers ...

- Lyon still disappointed -

After a new poor performance at home against Strasbourg, OL must ask themselves the question: can they still dream of the podium and a possible qualification for C1 next year? The doubt is there.

"If we don't win, it will be complicated," said Lyon coach Rudi Garcia after the winded draw conceded on Sunday.

OL have won only four of their twelve games played at home, a pace unworthy of a contender for Europe, and they came close to defeat against Racing, saved twice by their amounts (87th , 90th + 2).

Admittedly, the Lyonnais quickly took the advantage on a plunging head of Bertrand Traoré (22nd). But a misalignment of Kenny Tete allowed Kévin Zohi, party on the verge of offside, to equalize with the help of video arbitration (44th).

In short, OL (11th, 34 pts) continues to flounder in the soft stomach of the ranking, which is not really reassuring ten days to face Juventus Turin of Cristiano Ronaldo in the knockout stages of the Champions League ...

- Saint-Etienne defeated -

At this rate, Saint-Etienne can worry about its future in the elite, because the Greens, beaten 3-2 in Brest, have only two points ahead of the Dijon roadblocker.

In a nightmarish first period for the Stéphanois, the Bretons led 3-0 thanks to Paul Lasne (20th), Gaëtan Charbonnier (38th) and Irvin Cardona (43rd). And the start of the Greens turned out to be too short with a penalty from Denis Bouanga (52) and a strong shot from Loïs Diony (69).

This is Claude Puel's team dangerously installed on the edge of the red zone: it has lost eight of its last nine Ligue 1 matches!

"We are part of the teams that are poorly classified and that will have to fight to get out of this area," admitted Puel.

© 2020 AFP