Marseille, Monaco clinch Champions League qualification
PARIS: Mason Greenwood's brilliant late strike helped Marseille beat Le Havre 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Saturday and clinch qualification for next season's Champions League, while Monaco defeated Lyon to secure their own spot at Europe's top table. Both sides came into the penultimate night of the French campaign knowing wins plus favourable results elsewhere could secure a top-three finish behind champions Paris Saint-Germain with a game of the season to spare.
Marseille got the job done away to relegation-threatened Le Havre, but it looked set to be a frustrating night for them despite Amine Gouiri putting the visitors in front. The match was held up for around half an hour in the second half due to unrest caused by the presence of Marseille supporters in the home areas of the stadium, and when the action restarted Issa Soumare equalised for Le Havre.
However, Greenwood produced a moment of magic to put Marseille back in front from a powerful long-range strike with five minutes left, the goal his 19th of the season in Ligue 1. Gouiri then sealed the win in stoppage time with his second of the game, leading to coach Roberto De Zerbi racing down the touchline to join in the celebrations with his players and the travelling fans. 'I am really, really pleased for the players, the club, the supporters and the city of Marseille, which is a city that lives for football,' said De Zerbi after securing a return to the Champions League for the 1993 European champions.
'I think we deserve to qualify for the Champions League and we are going to really push next week to finish second behind PSG,' added the Italian, whose side are a point above Monaco. 'In 10 years Marseille have been in the Champions League three times. This will be the fourth. We came eighth last year, reduced the wage bill and spent less in the transfer market than our direct rivals.' While Marseille were not involved in any European competition this season, Monaco made it to the knockout stages of the Champions League and they will be back among the continent's elite again in the next campaign.
Goals in the second half by Takumi Minamino and Denis Zakaria gave Monaco a 2-0 win over Lyon in the principality, dealing a huge blow to their opponents' prospects of getting the prize money from the Champions League that they so desperately need. Lyon are seventh with one game left, although they remain three points behind Nice in fourth as well as Lille and Strasbourg, meaning the final spot in the Champions League will be contested by that quartet next weekend. Nice went down 2-0 at Rennes, for whom Arnaud Kalimuendo scored twice, while Lille were beaten 2-0 away at Brest.
Ramos hat-trick for PSG
Meanwhile, Strasbourg suffered a surprise 2-1 loss at Angers, Esteban Lepaul netting both goals for the home side to inflict a first defeat in 13 matches on Liam Rosenior's team. PSG have already wrapped up a fourth straight Ligue 1 title and rested several regulars for their 4-1 win at relegated Montpellier, three days after beating Arsenal to reach the Champions League final.
Teenager Senny Mayulu opened the scoring for PSG, who had lost their last two domestic outings, and Goncalo Ramos then netted a second-half hat-trick, including one goal from the penalty spot and one sensational strike from the edge of the area.
'He is a marvellous player,' coach Luis Enrique said of the Portuguese striker. Tanguy Coulibaly pulled one back for Montpellier, who do not yet know the identity of the second team to be automatically relegated to the second tier. Saint-Etienne remain second-bottom, but goals by Florian Tardieu and Irvin Cardona gave them a 2-0 win at Reims which leaves Les Verts just a point behind Le Havre in the relegation play-off spot.
Le Havre are two points away from outright safety, with Nantes not yet guaranteed to stay up despite a 1-1 draw at Auxerre, and French Cup finalists Reims also still at risk of going down. Toulouse and Lens drew 1-1 in the night's other game, while earlier Lorient sealed the Ligue 2 title ahead of Paris FC, who are also promoted. – AFP
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