Olympique Lyonnais beat Gazelec-Ajaccio 2-1 on Saturday to hold on to the coveted Ligue 1 runner-up spot and automatic entry to the Champions League.
The former multiple French champions are in a tight battle with AS Monaco for second, with only goal difference splitting the teams.
Monaco kept the pressure on Lyon with a 3-2 defeat of En Avant de Guingamp to set up a winner-takes-all clash between the sides next weekend.
Lyon took an early lead when Rachid Ghezzal outfoxed the Gazelec defense, scoring directly from a corner.
As the interval approached, Maxwell Cornet scored into an open goal after smart work from Alexandre Lacazette and Rafael.
Four minutes after the break the visitors pulled one back with Gregory Pujol conjuring up a superb lob after a counterattack.
At Monaco, Andrea Raggi put the Principality club into a 17th-minute lead against Guingamp, knocking in the rebound after his header hit the crossbar.
As the first half drew to a close, Nabil Dirar doubled their lead.
Deep into the second half, Mevlut Erding’s goal gave Guingamp hope, but seconds after the restart fine individual work from Bernardo Silva restored Monaco’s two-goal cushion.
The home side then had to endure a nervy final 10 minutes after Benjamin Angoua scored Guingamp’s second.
“It was a deserved victory, now we are going to play ‘the final’ [at Lyon],” Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said. “Monaco will be playing for second place in this game. We will start preparing for this game from Monday, because tomorrow [yesterday] is a holiday for everyone.”
Earlier, Nantes delivered a damaging blow to OGC Nice’s Champions League hopes as they inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Claude Puel’s side.
Adrien Thomasson fired home the only goal after 68 minutes at the Stade de la Beaujoire as Nice were punished for failing to properly clear a cross.
Nice had ridden their luck until that point, with Nantes hitting the woodwork on three occasions — once through Emiliano Sala’s first-half header before US international Alejandro Bedoya struck the post and then the bar in the space of five minutes.
Nice slipped to fifth, one point behind AS Saint-Etienne who drew 0-0 with Toulouse as Nantes snapped a run of five games without a win.
For Toulouse this was a precious point in their battle to avoid relegation.
And they had their goalkeeper Stiphane Ruffier to thank after he saved a penalty and produced a series of other saves.
Toulouse have 34 points, two adrift of Stade de Reims, who lost 3-2 to Montpellier Herault.
On Friday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Stade Rennais 4-0 to equal their own Ligue 1 points record.
Ibrahimovic increased his goals haul to 34 for the season with Maxwell and Edinson Cavani netting either side of the Swede’s brace as PSG moved onto 89 points, matching their total from 2013-2014, with three games still to play.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
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