Marseille hangs on a little after its defeat against Nice, chasing leaders PSG

Marseille fell in their quest to catch Paris Saint-Germain at the top of Ligue 1, losing 2-0 to Nice at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday.

After being held to a 1-1 draw by Reims at the Parc des Princes 24 hours earlier, Luis Enrique’s team had the chance to close the gap to the leaders by 10 points.

However, Marseille were quickly put in trouble when Evann Guessand, tipped for a move to the Premier League this month, opened the scoring by putting the ball into the back of Geronimo Rulli’s net.

Reacting to this blow, Marseille first put Nice under pressure with Mason Greenwood, who was the first to shoot at Marseille goalkeeper Marcin Bulka, followed by an attempt from Adrien Rabiot.

The hosts finished the first half in a favorable position but failed to equalize, with Valentin Rongier and Quentin Merlin attempting shots from distance without success.

Despite a promising end to the first half, Marseille quickly conceded a second goal after the break, Mohamed-Ali Cho being served by Guessand to increase the score.

The introductions of Jonathan Rowe, Bilal Nadir and Robinio Vaz seemed to bring new hope for Marseille, but they did not have the desired effect.

The defeat leaves Roberto De Zerbi’s team 10 points behind PSG, ahead of a major shock against Lyon, who also struggled on Sunday against Nantes.

For his part, at the Stade de la Beaujoire, Mostafa Mohamed scored a goal in the 90th minute to give Nantes a 1-1 draw against Lyon, who are also fighting for a place in Europe.

Lyon are in four consecutive draws in all competitions, a first since March-April 1996 (six), although they opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the match.

Ernest Nuamah concluded a great offensive action with a simple shot into the back of Anthony Lopes’ net, after being brilliantly served by Nicolas Tagliafico.

Thinking they had an important victory, Lyon saw Mohamed equalize on a perfectly adjusted cross from Moses Simon, which he converted with a precise header.

Lyon has not won its last four away games in all competitions (D2 L2) for the first time since an interval between May and October 2023 (six) and remains sixth in Ligue 1.

In the morning Ligue 1 match, Brest, one of the surprise clubs of the season in the Champions League, recorded a fourth consecutive victory by beating Le Havre 1-0.

Ludovic Ajorque scored the only goal of the match, scoring his fourth goal in his last five Ligue 1 matches, as many as he had scored in his previous 35.

Brest have now won nine of their opening 19 matches in Ligue 1 2024-25, having done no better at this stage last season (10), with their sights set on Europe next Wednesday.

Eric Roy’s side currently sit 13th in the 36-team Champions League standings, sitting just one point outside the qualifying places for the knockout stages but facing title holders Real Madrid, during their last league match.