LFP: French title race to go to wire as top two both win

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.

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