Marseille move up to second as Monaco held by Nice
PARIS: Olympique de Marseille claimed their fifth home victory in a row when they beat Strasbourg 2-0 to move up to second in Ligue 1 on Tuesday.
Clinton Njie and Dmitri Payet found the net to put OM on 44 points from 21 games, nine points behind runaway leaders Paris St Germain, who take on Dijon on Wednesday. Monaco are third on 43 points after Mario Balotelli’s double earned Nice a 2-2 draw at the Louis II stadium in the Azurean derby.
Marseille struggled to break the deadlock in a dull first half but found a way through after the break.
Valere Germain missed a penalty in the 73rd minute but the home side were rewarded for their dominance 10 minutes from full time when Njie volleyed home from close range.
Payet put the result beyond doubt in the 87th, poking the ball home after dribbling past keeper Alexandre Oukidja. — Reuters FRENCH LIGUE 1 RESULTS ON TUESDAY: Marseille 2 (N’Jie 79, Payet 87) Strasbourg 0 Bordeaux 0 Caen 2 (Santini 88-pen, Rodelin 90+4) Monaco 2 (Diakhaby 33, Falcao 90+2) Nice 2 (Balotelli 47, 68) ‘I’M ‘I TALENTED’ Her next task is tackling 15-year-old sensation Marta M Kostyuk, who became the younges youngest woman to reach the third round since Martina Hingis got to the quarterfinals quarterfinal in 1996. Also Ukrainian, U she beat local wildcard Ol Olivia Rogowska 6-3, 7-5. Her win streak at Melbourne Park is now 11 straight stra matches after claiming the Australi Australian Open girls’ title in 2017 and coming through qualifying this year. “I heard a lo lot of times that I’m talented, and I know that,” said the confident teen. “Bu “But I know that only talent will not he help me to play good. So I’m work working pretty hard.” F French Open champion and sev seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko als also progressed, but she too ne needed three sets to get past Ch China’s Duan Yingying. O On a hot Melbourne day, Croatia’s Croa sixth seed Marin Cilic advanced, with last year’s Wimbledon Wimb finalist easily beating Joao S Sousa. US Open semifinalist and 1 10th seed Pablo CarrenoBusta also went through after French veteran Gilles Simon retire retired injured when trailing 6-2, 3- 3-0. 0. And fighting former finalist Jo- Jo-Wilfried W Tsonga saw off rising Canadian youngster Denis Shapova Shapovalov in a five-set thriller. But Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Pavlyuchenk a quarterfinalist last year, became becam the latest seed to slump out in the wom women’s draw, which has been shorn of leading le names over the first two rounds. Venus Williams’ conqueror Belinda Bencic Ben also ran out of steam, having no answers an against Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum, Ku slumping out 6-1, 6-3.