PSG draws at Caen as Montpellier loses at Nancy

PARIS Paris Saint-Germain needed an injury-time goal to rescue a 2-2 draw away to struggling Caen on Saturday, and it was enough to extend PSG’s lead at the top of the French league to two points after Montpellier’s 1-0 loss at Nancy.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Saturday

Bordeaux    1-1    AC AjaccioLorient    2-1    BrestMarseille    1-2    Dijon Auxerre    0-2    Evian Nancy    1-0  MontpellierCaen    2-2    PSGSt Etienne    0-1    LyonPARIS Paris Saint-Germain needed an injury-time goal to rescue a 2-2 draw away to struggling Caen on Saturday, and it was enough to extend PSG’s lead at the top of the French league to two points after Montpellier’s 1-0 loss at Nancy.

PSG has relied on late goals to either secure a win or salvage a point in its last five matches, and coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team was fortunate to get a draw as its vulnerability at set-pieces was again exposed by an inspired Caen team."It’s a good result for us, because we could have lost,” Ancelotti said. "Caen caused us a lot of problems and stopped us developing our game. We were better in the second half and managed to equalize.Montpellier, which would have moved back to the top with a win, finished the game with nine players as center half Vitorino Hilton and midfielder Benjamin Stambouli were sent off.Lyon won 1-0 away to Saint-Etienne and jumped over its fierce local rival to move into fourth place, with striker Bafetimbi Gomis settling the match with an 81st-minute winner.Marseille lost 2-1 at home to Dijon, its fifth consecutive league defeat and sixth straight in all competitions, all but ending its hopes of finishing among the top three places and earning a Champions League berth next season.Marseille is eight points behind third-place Lille, which plays its game in hand at home to Valenciennes on Sunday.