Marseille stay on track as rivals lose their cool

Nigerian left-back Taye Taiwo converted a high-pressure injury-time penalty to give Marseille a 2-1 win at Boulogne-sur-Mer on Saturday that keeps them on course for the French title.

Auxerre held onto second place with a 4-1 defeat of Lorient, while the title hopes of former Champions League adversaries Lyon and Bordeaux were all but extinguished after they drew 2-2 in a match that featured three red cards.

Mathieu Valbuena gave visitors Marseille a 1-0 half-time lead at second-bottom Boulogne, who hit back in the 82nd minute when substitute Jeremy Blayac volleyed in from close-range after Damien Marcq beat Brandao in the air.

Deep into added time Yoann Lachor was penalised for a handball inside the Boulogne box and Taiwo held his nerve to sweep the ball inside the right-hand post and keep his side five points clear with five games remaining.

“My players have the desire to go after the best result in every game,” said Marseille coach Didier Deschamps, whose side have now won their last seven consecutive matches.

“We’re in first place. We’ll do everything we can to stay there. But there are still 15 points to play for.”

Defending champions Bordeaux and Lyon now need Marseille to suffer a complete collapse if they are to stand any chance of winning the league after a lively and ill-tempered 2-2 draw at Bordeaux’s Stade Chaban-Delmas.

Lyon twice came from behind, with skipper Cris glancing in their second equaliser in the 71st minute after Jaroslav Plasil had fired the hosts in front for the second time with a superb long-range strike into the top-left corner.

Bordeaux, beaten by Lyon in the Champions League quarter-finals earlier this month, went ahead in the 25th minute through Marouane Chamakh.

Ederson drew the visitors level with a low piledriver after 10 minutes of the second period.

The game ended amid a flurry of red cards, with Lyon right-back Anthony Reveillere sent off for an ugly foul on Bordeaux left-back Benoit Tremoulinas, who was dismissed for his reaction.

Bordeaux winger Jussie then saw red for shoving Miralem Pjanic in the face, sparking a brawl that saw representatives of both dugouts stream onto the playing surface.

Lyon, who visit Bayern Munich on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, are now nine points behind Marseille, with Bordeaux two points further back in fifth but with a game in hand.

Auxerre’s 4-1 victory over Lorient, who had two men sent off including goalkeeper Fabien Audard, was their biggest of the season and dented Lorient’s fading hopes of snatching a European place.

“We have to now preserve the same efficiency as we did tonight and the same dynamism,” said Auxerre coach Jean Fernandez.

Elsewhere on Saturday, third-bottom Le Mans followed up their shock victory over Bordeaux in mid-week with a 1-0 win at Valenciennes.

Defender Sebastien Corchia scored the winning goal with a free-kick in injury time to take Le Mans to within seven points of safety with five games to play.

In the day’s other games, seventh-placed Rennes were held 0-0 at home by Nancy, Sochaux drew 2-2 at relegated Grenoble and the game between Nice and Lens ended goalless.