Marseille, Monaco clinch Champions League qualification from Ligue 1

PARIS: Mason Greenwood´s brilliant late strike helped Marseille beat Le Havre 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Saturday and clinch qualification for next season´s Champions League, while Monaco defeated Lyon to secure their own spot at Europe´s top table.

Both sides came into the penultimate night of the French campaign knowing wins plus favourable results elsewhere could secure a top-three finish behind champions Paris Saint-Germain with a game of the season to spare.

Marseille got the job done away to relegation-threatened Le Havre, but it looked set to be a frustrating night for them despite Amine Gouiri putting the visitors in front. The match was held up for around half an hour in the second half due to unrest caused by the presence of Marseille supporters in the home areas of the stadium, and when the action restarted Issa Soumare equalised for Le Havre.

However, Greenwood produced a moment of magic to put Marseille back in front from a powerful long-range strike with five minutes left, the goal his 19th of the season in Ligue 1. Gouiri then sealed the win in stoppage time with his second of the game, leading to coach Roberto De Zerbi racing down the touchline to join in the celebrations with his players and the travelling fans.

“I am really, really pleased for the players, the club, the supporters and the city of Marseille, which is a city that lives for football,” said De Zerbi after securing a return to the Champions League for the 1993 European champions. “I think we deserve to qualify for the Champions League and we are going to really push next week to finish second behind PSG,” added the Italian, whose side are a point above Monaco.

“In 10 years Marseille have been in the Champions League three times. This will be the fourth. We came eighth last year, reduced the wage bill and spent less in the transfer market than our direct rivals.”

While Marseille were not involved in any European competition this season, Monaco made it to the knockout stages of the Champions League and they will be back among the continent´s elite again in the next campaign.

Goals in the second half by Takumi Minamino and Denis Zakaria gave Monaco a 2-0 win over Lyon in the principality, dealing a huge blow to their opponents´ prospects of getting the prize money from the Champions League that they so desperately need.

Lyon are seventh with one game left, although they remain three points behind Nice in fourth as well as Lille and Strasbourg, meaning the final spot in the Champions League will be contested by that quartet next weekend.