Lille denied win by last-gasp Erding goal
Reuters - Sunday 26 February 2012, 22:13
Lille missed an opportunity
to reduce the gap with the Ligue 1 leaders to five points when
they conceded a last-gasp goal in a 1-1 draw at 10-man Stade
Rennes on Sunday.
Mevlut Erding's last-minute effort cancelled out Aurelien
Chedjou's first-half opener after Rennes had centre-back
Onyekachi Apam sent off for picking up two yellow cards in quick
succession.
Lille remain third with 46 points from 25 games and trail
leaders Montpellier by seven points after the southerners beat
Girondins Bordeaux 1-0 on Saturday.
Second-placed Paris Saint-Germain are a point off the pace
following a 4-4 draw at Olympique Lyon on Saturday.
Olympique Marseille's hopes of playing in the Champions
League next term took a knock when their 16-match unbeaten run
in all competitions ended with a 1-0 loss at Stade Brest earlier
on Sunday, Paul Baysse scoring after a corner on 17 minutes.
Didier Deschamps's side, who still have a game in hand,
dropped to eighth, seven points adrift of Lille who occupy the
Champions League play-off spot.
Rennes, who moved up to sixth on 40 points, got off to a
good start against champions Lille but Apam was shown two yellow
cards in the 36th and 37th minutes for fouling Nolan Roux and
Joe Cole.
Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard sent the resulting free-kick
dipping into the box for Chedjou to head home as the visitors
looked set for a routine win.
Rennes, however, piled on the pressure after the break and
came close on several occasions with Lille banking on counter-attacks.
Erding eventually found the back of the net in the 90th
minute when he latched onto a Jean Armel Kana-Biyik assist.
Marseille, who had not lost a competitive game in three
months, dominated throughout at Brest but home goalkeeper Steve
Elana was in superb form.
The visitors were denied a penalty in the first minute when
Johan Martial, who later admitted on French TV he committed a
foul, brought down Brandao in the box.
Brazilian striker Brandao then directed a header against the
post.
Elana made two stunning saves to deny Rod Fanni and Benoit
Cheyrou from close range in the second half before tipping an
Andre Ayew effort over the bar in injury-time.
Shortly afterwards, Eden Ben Basat cleared a Fanni header
off his goal-line.
"We were denied an obvious penalty after 30 seconds of play.
It was a big mistake from the referee," Marseille captain Alou
Diarra told French TV channel Foot +.
"If we get and score that penalty in the first minute, the
game is just not the same."
Toulouse are seventh on 40 points from 25 games after goals
by Aymen Abdennour and Emmanuel Riviere gave them a 2-0 win over
bottom club Sochaux.