PARIS, Oct 23: Lens punished Marseille for its wasteful finishing, winning 1-0 with a deflected late shot to move up to second place in the French league on Saturday.
With Marseille well on top at Stade Velodrome and Lens pinned back, midfielder Mattéo Guendouzi found himself in a scoring position inside the right of the penalty area. But he took one touch too many and wasted a good chance.
Soon after, the visitors broke up the field and the ball reached midfielder David Pereira da Costa, whose shot clipped the leg of defender Leonardo Balerdi and looped over goalkeeper Pau Lopez in the 78th minute.
Lens moved one point above Lorient into second place — which secures automatic entry into the Champions League — and remains five points behind unbeaten league leader Paris Saint-Germain.
Marseille stayed in fourth spot after a third straight defeat and only two points ahead of Rennes and Monaco, who play on Sunday.
Elsewhere, former France coach Laurent Blanc got his first win since taking charge of Lyon, thanks to striker Alexandre Lacazette’s 90th-minute goal in a 2-1 win at Montpellier, where Blanc first made his name as an attacking midfielder.
Lacazette scored with a powerful low shot inside the post after being set up by midfielder Maxence Caqueret. (AP)
