PARIS: A Mason Greenwood penalty in the 89th minute handed Olympique de Marseille a 2-1 victory over AS Monaco and sent them into second place in Ligue 1 on Sunday, while Alexandre Lacazette netted a hat-trick as Olympique Lyonnais beat rivals Nice 4-1.

Earlier, Lille passed up the opportunity to move provisionally into third place in Ligue 1 after conceding a late equaliser to bottom side Montpellier.

After leaders Paris St Germain drew on Saturday, it was the chance for the second and third-placed sides to close the gap to the top.

And it was Marseille who took that chance with their slender win leapfrogging them above Monaco into second place on goal difference, the pair are tied on 26 points — seven behind PSG.

Aleksandr Golovin made the breakthrough for Monaco four minutes before half-time with a deflected finish but Marseille struck back in the 53rd minute through Luis Henrique’s header.

The decisive moment then came in the 87th minute when the referee adjudged that Monaco’s Christian Mawissa had blocked a cross with his hand. Greenwood duly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to seal the comeback win.

In Lyon, Lacazette scored twice in the first half, before putting the cherry on top for the home side with a 69th-minute penalty.

Sofiane Diop had equalised for Nice midway through the first period, before Lacazette and Jordan Veretout struck to open up a two-goal buffer by the interval.

Lyon move up to 22 points, two ahead of Nice in sixth place and one behind fourth-placed Lille.

Earlier, Jonathan David twice gave Lille the lead from the penalty spot in either half but Issiaga Sylla struck in first-half injury time and Arnaud Nordin then found a 93rd-minute leveller for Montpellier as the points were shared in a 2-2 draw.

Lille sit three points behind third-placed Monaco, while Montpellier stay rooted to the foot of the table, five points from safety.

Eighth-placed Auxerre went down 2-0 at Toulouse thanks to two goals in seven first-half minutes from Joshua King and a Vincent Sierro penalty.

Angers took an invaluable three points in the relegation battle with a 1-0 win against Le Havre, who dropped into 16th spot.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2024