AS Monaco consolidated second place and put leaders Paris Saint-Germain’s title celebrations on hold by winning 1-0 at Stade Rennais in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
PSG could have clinched the title this weekend if Monaco had lost and they won yesterday at Olympique Lyonnais. Monaco pulled within 10 points of the leaders.
Emmanuel Riviere chased a through-ball from Jeremy Toulalan to score with a sliding effort in the 55th minute. Riviere then had a close-range attempt diverted onto the bar by Rennes goalkeeper Benoit Costil in the 63rd.
“We needed a victory to keep this small cushion we’ve been having for a while,” Toulalan said. “We must keep it because it will be tough until the end of the season. It will be tough as long as second place is not secured mathematically.”
LOSC Lille Metropole kept pace with Monaco, staying six points behind in third, by edging Valenciennes 1-0.
Divock Origi took a pass from Salomon Kalou to score with a low strike in the 70th minute.
“It wasn’t easy, but the most important thing is to take the three points,” Lille coach Rene Girard said. “It seemed to me that we missed a bit of gas in the tank, a bit of freshness, but the boys managed to do what they needed to do.”
Elsewhere on Saturday, AC Ajaccio midfielder Mehdi Mostefa volleyed home in the 86th minute to salvage a draw and delay his team’s relegation after Girondins de Bordeaux substitute Jussie opened the scoring in the 62nd.
Sochaux-Montbeliard kept their slim hopes of safety alive by defeating Toulouse 2-0 to climb to 18th place.
Jordan Ayew headed in a cross from winger Roy Contout to put the hosts ahead in the 15th minute, before returning the favor in the 49th for Contout, who doubled the lead with a header.
Evian Thonon Gaillard beat SC Bastia 2-1 to move eight points clear of the relegation zone. Denmark international Daniel Wass scored the winner with a powerful free-kick in the 48th minute.
Vincent Aboubakar scored his 14th league goal in stoppage-time in a 2-1 win over OGC Nice to fire Lorient into the middle of the table.
Gilles Sunu gave Lorient the lead from the edge of the penalty area in the 19th minute, before Nice leftback Timothee Kolodziejczak leveled by converting a rebound in the 30th.
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