Ligue 1 leaders Montpellier Herault, without suspended top scorer Olivier Giroud and injured playmaker Younes Belhanda, scraped a 1-1 draw at lowly Dijon FCO on Saturday thanks to a late equalizer by Jonathan Tinhan.
On-loan Chelsea forward Gael Kakuta gave Dijon the lead in the 67th minute, before midfielder Tinhan headed in with just two minutes left to play.
The visitors struggled to create chances throughout, while 15th-placed Dijon were always a threat and it came as no surprise when Kakuta poked the ball into an empty net after a shot from Eric Bautheac came back off the woodwork.
Photo: AFP
Montpellier have 54 points from 26 games, two ahead of Paris Saint-Germain.
Champions LOSC Lille Metropole, in third spot, also drew 2-2 at home to second-from-bottom AJ Auxerre.
Eden Hazard scored twice for Lille, one a penalty, but goals from Ben Sahar and Cedric Hengbart earned Auxerre a point.
Lille’s Mauro Cetto was sent off in the 41st minute and Auxerre’s Anthony Le Tallec also received a red card in the 68th.
Olympique Lyonnais, in sixth, and eighth-placed Olympique de Marseille slumped to defeats.
Ahead of their midweek meeting with APOEL Nicosia in the Champions League, Lyon were beaten 2-0 by AS Nancy-Lorraine, who climbed out of the relegation zone, while Marseille suffered a 1-0 home defeat by Toulouse, who rose to fifth after Aymen Abdennour scored the only goal midway through the second half.
“It’s one of our worst games of the season,” Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said.
The hosts were without the injured Loic Remy and Mathieu Valbuena.
“It’s hard to cope with their absence in such an important game,” Deschamps said.
Fourth-placed AS Saint-Etienne fell 1l points behind Montpellier after losing 2-0 to Evian Thonon Gaillard.
OGC Nice are 16th after a penalty by Luciano Monzon and a goal from Abraham Gnuie Gneki gave them a 2-1 win at Girondins de Bordeaux, who are ninth.
Sochaux-Montbeliard drew 1-1 with Valenciennes.
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