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Monaco stay top with 3-0 victory
PARIS, France (Reuters) -- An injury-time penalty earned Olympique Marseille a 2-1 win against Nice on Saturday, keeping them in touch with leaders Monaco who eased past Toulouse 3-0 to maintain their one-point advantage in France. On a night when the league's four strongest teams were at home, Marseille looked as if they would be the only ones to miss out on three points at the Stade Velodrome. Paris St Germain beat AJ Auxerre 1-0 and champions Olympique Lyon thrashed Lens 4-0 with a Juninho hat-trick. Drawing 1-1 in the fourth minute of injury time Marseille were given a penalty when Ahmed Hossam Mido was pulled back in the area. The referee initially played advantage and then pointed to the penalty spot, prompting a furious reaction from the Nice players. Ivorian Didier Drogba scored his second goal of the night from the spot to end a mini-slump for Marseille who play Partizan Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday. Striker Lilian Laslandes had opened the scoring for Nice, third at start of play, in the 36th minute. Monaco have 19 points from eight matches, Marseille 18 and Nice and Lyon 14. Monaco left out midfielder Ludovic Giuly and striker Fernando Morientes before their Champions League match against AEK Athens and were never in danger against second-from-bottom Toulouse. Emmanuel Adebayor opened the scoring with a simple header from a corner before Edouard Cisse scored the goal of the night, a 30-metre half-volley in the 30th minute. Croatian striker Dado Prso scored the third early in the second half. Lyon were outstanding in the first half against Lens, scoring three goals. Fired by their Brazilian playmaker Juninho, Lyon at times almost walked the ball through the visitors' defence with quick passing and great movement. Juninho scored the first in the 10th minute from a free kick just outside the Lens area after Giovane Elber was fouled. Fellow midfielder Eric Carriere played in defender Anthony Reveillere for the second and Juninho scored his second four minutes from halftime. Juninho's hat trick arrived thanks to a 57th minute tap-in at the far post after a shot by Ghana's Mickael Essien was half-saved. The Brazilian was substituted five minutes later in preparation for Tuesday's Champions League game against Celtic. "We were strong defensively and when it works as well as that up front, it's devastating," said Lyon goalkeeper Gregory Coupet. "This was an important match for us with the visit to Celtic coming up." Sochaux, fourth at start of play, were beaten 2-0 by Bastia while Le Mans's desperate start continued with a 2-0 defeat at Stade Rennes. Le Mans have yet to win in eight games. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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