Brest stunned Marseille with a late winner to go second in Ligue 1 on Sunday, while Monaco slipped up against Toulouse and Rennes extended their winning run.
Brest, who had Steve Mounie sent off for a violent challenge in the 60th minute, snatched a 1-0 victory over Marseille thanks to Pierre Lees-Melou’s strike in the 88th minute. The former Norwich midfielder scored his first goal for Brest, who moved up to 40 points, one ahead of Nice, Lille and Monaco. Marseille, who have not won in six games, dropped to ninth place and are in turmoil. Coach Gennaro Gattuso apologized to the fans and the club for their poor performance.
“We have reached the lowest point tonight. We are in a spiral, a vicious circle,” Gattuso said.
“We have nothing to say tonight, we just have to take responsibility, ask for forgiveness from the fans, ask for forgiveness from this shirt because, tonight, what we did is unacceptable.”
Monaco missed the opportunity to climb to second place when they lost 2-1 at home to Toulouse, who moved away from the relegation zone. Toulouse captain Vincent Sierro scored a superb free-kick in the first half and Logan Costa added a second goal from a corner in the second half. Monaco’s only goal came from Maghnes Akliouche, who wasted several other chances along with Folarin Balogun. Monaco coach Adi Hutter lamented his team’s inconsistency and lack of competitiveness.
“We have had too many highs and lows this season,” Hutter said.“You can analyse things and talk about tactics but we are simply not competitive enough.”
Monaco and Lille, who beat Le Havre 3-0 on Saturday, are both on 38 points, one behind Nice, who lost 1-0 at Lyon on Friday. Lyon are third with 42 points. Paris Saint-Germain are the runaway leaders with 53 points, 13 more than Brest, after beating Nantes 2-0 on Saturday.
Rennes continued their impressive form with a 3-1 win over bottom club Clermont, their sixth consecutive victory in Ligue 1. Martin Terrier scored twice and Warmed Omari also netted for Rennes, who are seventh with 34 points, close to the European spots. Clermont’s only goal was scored by Christian Matsima, who also conceded a penalty that was saved by Mory Diaw.
Rennes are sandwiched between Reims and Lens, who drew 1-1 on Sunday. Lorient moved out of the bottom three with a 3-1 win over Strasbourg, thanks to a brace from new signing Mohamed Bamba. The former Wolfsburg forward became the first player to score in his first four games since Giora Spiegel in October 1973. Strasbourg’s goal was scored by Frederic Guilbert, who also saw his teammate Dilane Bakwa sent off in stoppage time.
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