Bordeaux stun Marseille to keep Lyon champagne on ice

A last-gasp strike from Pierre Ducasse handed Bordeaux a crucial 2-1 victory over Marseille on Sunday to keep the French title race alive and kicking.

Bordeaux now go into next week's penultimate match of the season against Sochaux with a two-point deficit to six-time champions Lyon, who slipped up Saturday when they were held to a scoreless draw at Nice.

Marseille were gifted the lead in stunning fashion when Mahamadou Niang followed through his run to score into an empty net after Bordeaux keeper Ulrich Rame had fluffed an attempted clearing header outside his area.

But in the second half the hosts were unable to add to their lead, and when Bordeaux claimed a deserved equaliser in the 79th minute through Brazilian Wendell they looked capable of causing an upset.

Confirmation of that came in the first minute of injury time when the Marseille defence was left at sixes and sevens as Bordeaux midfielder Marouane Chamakh held up the ball beautifully before laying off for the onrushing Ducasse.

His first time shot sailed past Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda to lodge itself into the top right hand corner to hand Bordeaux the win.

Elsewhere Sunday Saint Etienne and Lille played out a scoreless draw.

On Saturday Nancy did themselves a favour, and in the event Bordeaux, by holding Lyon to a draw in the Cote d'Azur.

Results elsewhere Saturday meanwhile meant that for four teams – Paris St Germain, Toulouse, Lens and Strasbourg – the relegation battle is still a major concern.

Paris St Germain's bid to pull clear of the dreaded drop zone took another knock when they let slip a 1-0 lead late in their away tussle with Toulouse, which finished 1-1.

Lens' scoreless draw with Monaco later Saturday meant PSG dropped back among the bottom three, with only Strasbourg and already relegated Metz below them.

Nancy were one of the biggest winners Saturday, their 3-0 demolition of Strasbourg pushing them up to third.

PSG's possible relegation has provided the biggest footballing story in France in recent weeks, and their latest setback bodes ill for the future.

“It's infuriating,” raged Paul Le Guen, whose side were on the verge of a precious win thanks to Bernard Mendy's strike, only for Mohamed Fofana to bundle in an equaliser for Toulouse in the 89th minute.

PSG keeper Mickael Landreau did well to keep out a late strike from Toulouse's Paolo Cesar.

He admits the next two matches would show PSG whether they have the mettle to emerge victorious from the relegation battle.

“We were unlucky to concede what I thought was a lucky goal by Toulouse at the end,” said Landreau.

“Now it's clear. This is going to go all the way to the final two matches. It will be tough, but the teams who are the strongest mentally are the ones who will beat relegation.”

Toulouse coach Elie Baup, who led Bordeaux to their last league title nearly a decade ago, said his side are primed for the remainder of the relegation battle.

“To come back into the match like we did is encouraging for our next two matches. We're all suffering from the relegation battle but the players showed tonight they've got something left to give,” said Baup.