Marseille downed by Lille in Ligue 1 as Lyon's struggles continue

Olivier Giroud came off the bench for Lille to condemn Marseille to a 2-1 home defeat on Sunday as fellow European contenders Lyon’s woes continued with another defeat.

Ethan Nwaneri’s first-half goal seemed to have put Marseille on course for a third straight win in the league as they look to consolidate the third and final Champions League spot.

But Belgian right-back Thomas Meunier struck back for seventh-placed Lille in the 49th minute to level matters at the Stade Velodrome.

Former Arsenal and France striker Giroud then netted his sixth goal of the season to send Lille in front inside the final five minutes.

The 39-year-old substitute headed in Meunier’s cross to complete the comeback for fifth-placed Lille and move them to within two points of their opponents.

“We didn’t deserve to be behind at half-time. So at the break, I told my players to keep doing what they’d been doing. We can be proud of what we’ve achieved, but we need to keep our feet on the ground,” Lille coach Bruno Genesio said.

“Olivier did us a world of good… He scored a brilliant striker’s goal.”

Defeat left Habib Beye’s Marseille on 49 points, also just two clear of fourth-placed Lyon after the seven-time French champions went down 2-1 at home to Monaco.

The defeat compounded a miserable week for Lyon after they were eliminated from the Europa League 3-1 on aggregate following Thursday’s 2-0 reversal at the Groupama Stadium to Spaniards Celta Vigo.

Paulo Fonseca’s charges are now without a win in their last six outings in all competitions.

“We played well up until the 70th minute, dominating the game and creating chances,” Lyon boss Fonseca said.

“We’ve been facing a lot of difficulties this season and the mistakes are piling up. I can accept that the referees don’t always have the best view, but how can some of the VAR decisions be explained?”

The Portuguese was particularly aggrieved by the decision not to award a penalty for a pull of the shirt on Lyon forward Endrick in the immediate build-up to the decisive spot-kick whistled for Monaco.

Pavel Sulc had sent the hosts ahead on 42 minutes but the principality side roared back courtesy of Maghnes Akliouche’s leveller shortly after the hour before Folarin Balogun netted from the spot in the 72nd minute to move Monaco into sixth and within one point of Lyon.

They sit on 46 points, two clear of Rennes, who played out a goalless stalemate with bottom-placed Metz.

Despite twice taking the lead against Strasbourg, second-bottom Nantes fell to a 3-2 loss after Joaquin Panichelli’s late brace and find themselves five points behind Auxerre, who occupy the relegation play-off spot.

Elsewhere, Paris FC took a big step towards ensuring their top-flight status for next season with a vital 3-2 home win over Le Havre.

The capital side sit on 31 points, with Le Havre now four behind them in 14th spot.