Lille turn on the style, edge toward Champions League

By Johnny Gill May 6, 2006, 21:23 GMT

Paris - Lille took a massive step toward clinching third place and the all-important final qualifying spot for the Champions League by crushing Lyon 4-0 Saturday, while Marseille were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Strasbourg.

Brittany hopefuls Rennes also failed to win and were held to a 0-0 draw at St Etienne, meaning Lille can lock up third place with at least a draw next week at Rennes, regardless of results elsewhere.

Lens were another team in the hunt but are out of the running after their listless 0-0 draw at Le Mans.

Marseille are the only team who can catch Lille but must win at Bordeaux and hope for Lille to lose at Rennes.

'It is a massive disappointment,' said Marseille's Sabri Lamouchi. 'Third place is going to be very, very difficult now, but anything is still possible, and we must go to Bordeaux and win. Rennes are still playing for a UEFA Cup place and are good at home, so it won't be easy for Lille.'

Lyon are already champions, Bordeaux are guaranteed second place, and Ajaccio, Strasbourg and Metz are relegated, making third spot the only key issue left to be decided.

Nigerian Peter Odemwingie scored twice in two minutes early in the second half to break open the match for Lille and put them ahead 3-0 as Gerard Houllier fielded a weakened lineup for the champions.

Geoffrey Dernis had opened the scoring for the home side, and Jean Makoun added a late insurance marker for Lille, who are chasing a second straight berth in Europe's showcase competition.

At the Parc des Princes, Ajaccio spoiled the party for Paris Saint Germain, who were playing their first home match since beating Marseille a week ago in the French Cup final.

Kamel Chafni handed the already relegated visitors a shock lead with 20 minutes on the clock, shooting past PSG keeper Lionel Letizi.

PSG battled back into the match and equalized on the half-hour mark when Argentine defender Mario Yepes weakly headed goalbound, only for Ajaccio defender Xavier Collin to inadvertently deflect the ball past his own keeper.

The match exploded into life after the break, as league-leading scorer Pauleta put PSG in front on 51 minutes with his 21st of the campaign.

Ajaccio refused to lie down, and Djamel Abdoun levelled the match at 2-2 before Chafni picked up his second of the game and regained the lead for the Corsican outfit.

With time running out, Matthieu Scarpelli made it a 4-2 in injury time to complete the upset.

Auxerre bounced back from the midweek at home to Marseille by storming into a 2-0 first-half lead at League Cup winners Nancy.

Luigi Pieroni notched his 10th goal of the season with a clean finish on 18 minutes, before helping set up Yann Lachuer just before the break to put Jacques Santini's men in commanding position.

The two teams exchanged second-half goals for a final score of 3-1 for Auxerre over Nancy.

At Toulouse, the first half was a Santos affair as Francileudo Santos put the home side in front on 31 minutes, only for Serge Gakpe to level the scores seven minutes later for Monaco.

Manuel Dos Santos turned the game on its head two minutes later, when he scrambled in the go-ahead goal from a Javier Chevanton assist to put the visitors in front.

Chevanton looked to have sealed the three points as the Uruguayan fired home a low shot for a 3-1 lead. Toulouse would not be denied, and when Daniel Moreira converted a penalty, they had a lifeline that was complete when Nicolas Dieuze equalized for a 3-3 final score.

In matches that had little significance on the table, Nice edged Metz 2-1, and Sochaux and Troyes battled to a 1-1 draw.