AS Monaco won 4-1 away to relegated AC Ajaccio in Ligue 1 on Saturday to keep Paris Saint-Germain waiting a little longer in their bid to secure a second consecutive league title.
All the goals came in the second half at the Stade Francois Coty as Dimitar Berbatov continued his impressive form by scoring twice for the visitors before Gadji Tallo got one back.
Berbatov then set up another for Geoffrey Kondogbia, while Lucas Ocampos added the fourth late on as Monaco made it four straight league wins to all but guarantee second place and automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League group stage.
Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri’s side are now 11 points clear of third-placed LOSC Lille Metropole, who have just four matches left, including yesterday’s home tie against Girondins de Bordeaux.
Les Rouge et Blanc are seven points adrift of PSG, who had to beat relegation-threatened Sochaux-Montbeliard yesterday to clinch the Ligue crown.
Laurent Blanc’s men would have to beat the all-time record points tally in Ligue 1 to become champions, which says a lot about how well Monaco have performed in their first season since winning promotion back to the top flight.
“For us, making PSG wait to win the title was not the objective because that was decided a long time ago,” Ranieri said. “We have 75 points, which is great, but I always want more. It’s important for our pride, especially as we have been playing without [injured Radamel] Falcao since November.”
It was not a vintage performance from the principality club in Corsica against opponents whose relegation was confirmed a week ago and there was little between the teams in the first half.
Home goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa saved a Joao Moutinho volley early on, while Danijel Subasic was called into action to deny Dennis Oliech at the other end.
Ivorian striker Tallo shot narrowly wide for the hosts shortly after the restart, but the opening goal arrived moments later when Moutinho played a left-wing corner short before crossing for Berbatov to head home.
It was the Bulgarian’s seventh goal for Monaco since joining the club from Fulham in January and he followed it with another in the 74th minute.
This time Berabtov finished coolly after latching onto a pass from James Rodriguez that undid the home offside trap.
Tallo got one back almost immediately, lashing the ball high into the net following a low cross from the right by Paul Lasne, but Monaco made sure of the victory with two late goals.
For the first, Berbatov turned provider for Kondogbia to curl the ball home from long range for his first Ligue 1 goal. For the second, Ocampos volleyed home a cross from fellow substitute Nabil Dirar in stoppage-time.
Elsewhere in Ligue 1, fourth-placed AS Saint-Etienne kept alive their outside chances of Champions League qualification by beating Evian Thonon Gaillard 2-1, as Valenciennes were all but condemned to relegation following a 1-0 loss away at Coupe de France finalists En Avant de Guingamp.
The northern side, who were promoted to Ligue 1 in 2006, are now nine points adrift of safety with only three matches remaining and are set to swap places with Metz, who won promotion back to the top flight after a six-year absence earlier on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, Montpellier Herault and OGC Nice appeared to secure their top-flight survival by beating Toulouse 2-1 and Stade de Reims 1-0 respectively, while Stade Rennais and Lorient drew 1-1 in a Brittany derby.
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