The French title race will go down to the final day after leaders Bordeaux maintained a three-point lead over Marseille as both teams won nerve-wracking matches on Saturday.
Bordeaux, who are the only top flight club unbeaten at home this season, gave the Chaban-Delmas faithful more of the same with a superb goal against Monaco from Morocco’s Marouane Chamakh.
He rose above the defense, including Monaco keeper Stephane Ruffier, on 35 minutes to head home from a Yoann Gourcuff free-kick from the left to grab a 1-0 victory.
PHOTO: EPA
That goal was enough to mean Bordeaux can seal their first title since 1999 with a draw against Caen next Saturday.
However, they had to survive a late Monaco onslaught and a rightly disallowed goal for the visitors before they could turn their attentions to Caen.
Marseille kept their outside chances alive thanks to a first-half own-goal from Nancy’s Damian Macaluso after 32 minutes.
Brandao gave Marseille some breathing room with a close-range finish, before Landry N’Guemo pulled a goal back for Nancy to make for a nerve-shredding finale for Eric Gerets’ side.
In the relegation battle, Sochaux kept their survival chances alive with a 2-1 win over Nantes, but the Canaries are on the verge of falling through the trap door.
Saint Etienne slipped back into the bottom three as they crashed 1-0 at Auxerre, making for a nervous final match at home to Valenciennes.
French Ligue 1
Team | P | GD | Pts | |
1 | Bordeaux | 37 | 29 | 77 |
2 | Marseille | 37 | 28 | 74 |
3 | Lyon | 37 | 23 | 70 |
4 | Toulouse | 37 | 18 | 63 |
5 | Paris Saint-Germain | 37 | 11 | 63 |
6 | Rennes | 37 | 12 | 61 |
7 | Lille | 37 | 11 | 61 |
8 | Auxerre | 37 | 1 | 55 |
9 | Nice | 37 | -1 | 49 |
10 | Lorient | 37 | 0 | 44 |
11 | Valenciennes | 37 | -3 | 44 |
12 | Monaco | 37 | -4 | 44 |
13 | Grenoble | 37 | -12 | 44 |
14 | AS Nancy | 37 | -8 | 42 |
15 | Sochaux | 37 | -9 | 39 |
16 | Le Mans | 37 | -11 | 39 |
17 | Caen | 37 | -6 | 37 |
18 | Saint Etienne | 37 | -20 | 37 |
19 | Nantes | 37 | -22 | 34 |
20 | Le Havre | 37 | -37 | 25 |
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