Depay helps Lyon seal CL berth

● Monaco saw off relegated Troyes 3- 0 to wrap up second spot behind champions Paris Saint- Germain as Bruno Genesio’s Lyon finished one point clear of Marseille in third place after a dramatic final day of the French football season

Paris, May 20: Memphis Depay struck a wonderful hat- trick as Lyon fought back to beat Nice 3- 2 at the Groupama Stadium on Saturday to qualify for the Champions League from Ligue 1 at the expense of Marseille.

Monaco saw off relegated Troyes 3- 0 to wrap up second spot behind champions Paris SaintGermain, as Bruno Genesio’s Lyon finished one point clear of Marseille in third after a dramatic final day of the season.

It capped a miserable week for Marseille, who will have to make do with a return to Europe’s secondtier competition despite beating Amiens 21.

Nice missed out on the Europa League with Saturday’s defeat, and coach Lucien Favre announced he was leaving the club after the game.

Marseille’s defeat by Atletico Madrid on Wednesday in Lyon had ensured that the thirdplaced finishers in Ligue 1 would join the top two in the group stage of Europe’s premier competition, rather than face the qualifying rounds.

Lyon were the first of

the three sides in contention to slip up, as Alassane Plea raced clean through on goal and fired through the legs of home goalkeeper Anthony Lopes to put Nice ahead.

OL desperately needed a quick leveller after halftime and Depay provided just that.

Fekir did excellently to twist into space and square for Depay to tap home.

Depay has arguably been the best player in France during the latter stages of the season, and the Dutchman produced the moment of magic needed to send Lyon into the Champions League.

The former Manchester United flop showed magnificent creativity and execution to roll a freekick under the wall and into the bottom corner to score his 18th goal of the campaign and his ninth in as many games.

Depay completed a sublime treble late on by dinking the ball over away goalkeeper Walter Benitez, and although Plea fired home from long range in the 89th minute, Lyon held on as Nice missed on a Europa League spot.