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FootballWinner in Rennes, Lens is PSG’s new runner-up in Ligue 1
The Sang et Or achieved a big blow by winning in Brittany (0-1) on Saturday evening. They temporarily settle in second place in the championship, ahead of OM.
Loïs Openda (left) scored the one and only goal of the match.
AFP
Loïs Openda’s RC Lens, an insatiable scorer, beat Rennes (0-1) and stole second place in Ligue 1 from Marseille on Saturday during a 29th day favorable to Auxerre, victorious 1-0 against Troyes in a duel crucial for maintenance.
Nine days before the end of the championship, the Lensois made an impression by winning against Rennais, competitors for Europe pushed back to 10 points, and by recovering the tag of runner-up from Paris Saint-Germain, a first since at the end of January. The Sang et Or now have 60 points and overtake OM, hung on Friday by Montpellier (1-1), thanks to a better goal difference.
At Roazhon Park, the visitors did the classic: Florian Sotoca, Lensois’ best passer this season, sent a well-calibrated cross for Loïs Openda (31st, 1-0), the Artesian club’s top scorer. The 23-year-old Belgian, recruited last summer, is going through a prosperous period: he has scored 15 goals in L1, including six in the last three days.
The Rennais, winners of PSG before the winter break, can worry about their 5th place, the last qualifier for European competitions. Lille is in ambush, one point behind, before receiving Lorient on Sunday (1 p.m.).
Auxerre, winning bench
At the bottom of the standings, AJ Auxerre pulled out of the red zone, at least temporarily, by further pushing Troyes, 18th. The Burgundians pocket a first success in more than a month and go back to 16th place with two points more than Brest, host of Toulouse on Sunday (3 p.m.). They will try to continue next weekend at the penultimate, Ajaccio.
The meeting, long insipid, ended with a center back from Nuno Da Costa for M’Baye Niang (74th), another player launched in the second half by Christophe Pélissier. “Matches like that, between teams at the bottom of the table, cannot be a good game, and I am therefore happy with the three points thanks to the collective strength of the group which caused the success”, rejoiced the coach.
The maintenance mission is complicated for Troyes after this twelfth game without a win. “Here are several matches where we live the same scenario. We dominate and we concede a goal at the end”, regretted Patrick Kisnorbo, without having “nothing to blame” his players.
(AFP)
