Nice stuns Lille 1-0 in French League

TRUNG LATIEULE

PARIS (AP) — Lille extended its winless streak in the French league to five games by losing 1-0 at Nice on Sunday.

Nice defender Mathieu Bodmer scored the winner by diverting in Christian Bruls' volley with a backheel flick on the stroke of halftime.

Despite the defeat, Lille remained in third place but saw its lead over Saint-Etienne cut to one point after picking up just two draws and three losses from its last five league games.

Nice moved into 12th place.

"We want to secure safety as quickly as possible," Nice captain Didier Digard said. "With more confidence, we hope to rack up more points and climb up a few spots."

Meanwhile, Marseille lost the lead twice to draw 2-2 with Toulouse and Lyon suffered a setback in the race for a European spot as it lost 2-0 at Rennes, which sits in 15th place.

Marseille winger Dimitri Payet opened the scoring with a diagonal strike in the seventh minute before Toulouse forward Wissam Ben Yedder leveled from a corner redirected by Martin Braithwaite in the 11th.

The hosts recaptured the lead in the 40th when Andre-Pierre Gignac cut the ball back for Marseille playmaker Mathieu Valbuena, who slammed the ball into the net in the 40th.

But Toulouse defender Serge Aurier beat hesitant goalkeeper Steve Mandanda to the ball to head in a corner in the 60th.

"We concede a lot of goals from set pieces. That's a concern for us now," Marseille defender Rod Fanni said. "Conceding goals like this really hurts. That's what makes us doubt."

Marseille stayed in fifth place and Toulouse slipped to 13th.

At Rennes, defender Cedric Hountondji put the hosts ahead by heading in a corner from Romain Alessandrini in the 22nd minute, and Lyon then went down to 10 men in the 41st when defender Samuel Umtiti was red-carded for a violent tackle on Alessandrini.

Rennes striker Ola Toivonen doubled the lead in the 66th by taking a pass from Abdoulaye Doucoure to fire home a low strike.

"We had an off day," Lyon fullback Henri Bedimo said. "They deserved the victory but we didn't play at our true level."

Lyon trails fourth-place Saint-Etienne by six points.

Paris Saint-Germain extended its lead atop the league to five points by defeating Bordeaux 2-0 on Friday. On Saturday, it was: Lorient 2, Monaco 2; Bastia 3, Guingamp 2; Evian 1, Ajaccio 1; Reims 2, Montpellier 4; Saint-Etienne 3, Valenciennes 0; and Sochaux 1, Nantes 0.