Montpellier go top, Marseille bag point

Saturday Brest    0-1     Nancy Evian    0-3     Lille AC Ajaccio 1-1     Lorient Nice     1-1     Marseille Lyon     2-1     Sochaux Valenciennes 1-0     Rennes

Monday, March 26, 2012

SaturdayBrest     0-1     NancyEvian    0-3     LilleAC Ajaccio 1-1     LorientNice     1-1     MarseilleLyon     2-1     SochauxValenciennes 1-0     RennesPARIS An 89th-minute volley by Ligue 1 top scorer Olivier Giroud gave Montpellier a 1-0 win at home to Saint-Etienne on Saturday that saw them move a point above Paris Saint-Germain at the league summit.PSG (had chance) to return to the top of the table if they beat Bordeaux on Sunday evening, but Giroud’s last-gasp intervention enabled Rene Girard’s side to claim a first win in three games in all competitions and confirm their title aspirations.The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Jean-Pascal Mignot saw red for a last-man foul on Remy Cabella, however, and Giroud finally made the breakthrough at the death, lashing home a 20-yard volley for his 18th league goal this term."I don’t know if it’s the best goal I’ve scored, but it was important,” said Giroud. "When I saw it go in, it felt like deliverance. I hope it’s the start of a great adventure in the final sprint.”Marseille ended a club-record string of seven straight defeats with a 1-1 draw at Mediterranean rivals Nice, ahead of the visit of in-form Bayern Munich for the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.OM made the breakthrough, with Andre Ayew crisply tucking away Cesar Azpilicueta’s cut-back in the 56th minute to end a Ligue 1 goal drought stretching back to December 2.But their lead lasted less than 20 minutes, as Fabian Monzon drilled in his sixth penalty of the season to level the scores after Esmael Goncalves was tripped by Rod Fanni.