PARIS: Olympique de Marseille moved back into second in Ligue 1 on Sunday, despite conceding a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at lowly Troyes.

Jorge Sampaoli’s men had dropped to third behind Nice after their top-three rivals’ 0-0 draw at Strasbourg on Saturday.

Marseille are now on 47 points from 26 games, 15 points behind runaway leaders Paris St Germain and one ahead of Nice in third.

Marseille were far from their best at Troyes, creating little but led for the majority of the match after Dimitri Payet’s 28th-minute spot-kick, which he smashed into the top corner.

But Troyes struck back in the 90th minute, substitute Yoann Touzghar netting from close range.

Although the draw left Troyes 17th, they are one of four sides on 22 points at the foot of the table along with Bordeaux, St Etienne and Metz.

Elsewhere, defending champions Lille moved to within four points of the European places with a 1-0 at Olympique Lyonnais, who slipped to 10th. Swedish defender Gabriel Gudmundsson scored the only goal in the first half.

Monaco’s European hopes suffered another setback with a late collapse in a 2-1 home loss to Stade de Reims, with teenager Nathanael Mbuku scoring an injury-time winner.

Bordeaux remain at the foot of the table after a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Clermont, while Lens moved up to sixth by winning 2-1 at Angers. Lens are three points behind fourth-placed Stade Rennais in the Europa League spot.

Lorient did their survival hopes the world of good with a 1-0 victory at 10-man Brest thanks to a winner by Mali striker Ibrahima Kone.

Vincent Pajot received a late red card for Metz as they played to a 0-0 home draw with Nantes.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2022