Nice stay top, Marseille win

Rennes blank Saint-Etienne

PARIS, Dec 5, (AFP): Nice held top spot in France with a 3-0 win at home against Toulouse on Sunday as Marseille claimed just a second victory in seven Ligue 1 matches by beating Nancy 3-0.

First half goals from Alassane Plea and Younes Belhanda set Nice on their way with Ivorian Jean Michael Seri rounding off with his ninth goal of the campaign on 65 minutes.

Nice have a three-point advantage on second-placed Monaco who whipped Bastia 5-0 on Saturday with Paris Saint-Germain four points adrift of the leaders after falling 3-0 at Montpellier.

Nice captain Dante admitted the win was a psychological boost ahead of next weekend’s clash with the champions at the Parc des Princes.

“We’ll arrive in Paris next week with a fourpoint lead,” said the Brazilian defender.

“There will be a little less pressure. But we mustn’t get carried away. Despite the defeat at Montpellier, Paris remain a great team. We’ve got to be prepared to suffer in Paris.”

Toulouse, the only team to have beaten both Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain this campaign, remain stuck in eighth place.

Earlier Florian Thauvin struck just after halftime at the Stade Velodrome before fellow Premier League cast-offs Bafetimbi Gomis and Clinton Njie scored late goals after Benoit Pedretti was sent off for Nancy.

Augsburg’s midfielder Dominik Kohr (left), and Frankfurt’s Hungarian midfielder Szabolcs Huszti (right), vie for the ball during the German First Division Bundesliga football match between FC Augsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt at the WWK-Arena in Augsburg, southern Germany, on Dec 4.

(AFP)

Toulouse’s Brazilian midfielder Somalia (left), vies with Nice’s Brazilian defender Dante (right), during the French L1 football match Nice

(OGCN) vs Toulouse (TFC) on Dec 4, at the ‘Allianz Riviera’ Stadium in Nice, southeastern France. (AFP)