Lyon and Strasbourg win to close in on Europe, Montpellier relegated

LYON: Lyon and Strasbourg both recorded comfortable wins in Ligue 1 on Saturday to remain neck-to-neck in the race for Champions League football next season, while Le Havre held Monaco to a stalemate that condemned Montpellier to relegation.

Malick Fofana, Corentin Tolisso, Alexandre Lacazette and Georges Mikautadze were all on target as Lyon cruised past Rennes 4-1. The pick of the goals came on eight minutes when Fofana cut in from the left and unleased fierce right-footed strike in off the crossbar.

Tolisso swept a fine second home to double Lyon´s lead on 25 minutes, before Lacazette effectively wrapped up the points six minutes before half-time with a hammered finish. Mohamed Meite gave 10th-placed Rennes a lifeline when he was gifted the chance to bundle home following a badly miss-hit crossfield pass on 51 minutes.

Mikautadze restored the home team´s three-goal buffer inside the final 15 minutes as Lyon moved to fourth and within one point of potential direct qualification for Europe´s elite club competition.

After the vital win, Lyon captain Lacazette promised the race for the Champions League would be “exciting until the end” as two points separate the second- to seventh-placed teams in the Ligue 1 table.

Liam Rosenior´s vibrant young Strasbourg side kept their European dreams alive with a 3-1 win over struggling Saint-Etienne. They sit sixth, level on 54 points with Lyon. Second-half goals by Emanuel Emegha and Dilane Bakwa sealed the win after Zuriko Davitashvili had cancelled out Diego Moreira´s early opener for the hosts.