Nice beats Lorient 2-1 to go 4th; PSG hosts Marseille

Sun, Apr 17, 2022
Soccer News (AP)

PARIS (AP) - Andy Delort's late goal gave Nice a hard-fought 2-1 home win against Lorient in the French league on Sunday and kept it in contention for a Champions League spot.

Delort's second goal of the game saw him head in Denmark striker Kasper Dolberg's cross in the 88th minute.

The win moved fourth-place Nice two points behind Rennes in third and a Champions League playoff spot. Nice currently holds the automatic Europa League place, one point ahead of Strasbourg and Monaco with six games left. Fifth-place Strasbourg drew 1-1 at Troyes on Sunday.

Delort netted from the penalty spot in the 54th after midfielder Khephren Thuram was fouled. Left winger Armand Lauriente equalized in the 61st.

Runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain hosted Marseille later Sunday.

A win for Marseille, which beat PSG 1-0 in Paris last season and drew 0-0 at home this season, would move it six points clear in second and automatic Champions League qualification.

Elsewhere, striker Moussa Dembele scored a hat trick as Lyon routed Bordeaux 6-1 to go some way to appeasing its disgruntled supporters.

Dembele, forward Karl Toko Ekambi and midfielder Lucas Paqueta scored in the first half.

Midfielder Romain Faivre and Toko Ekambi netted after the break for Lyon, before Sekou Mara grabbed a late consolation with a penalty and Dembele scored again in stoppage time.

Lyon is eighth and only has an outside chance of qualifying for Europe next season, much to the disappointment of its fans. Two prominent groups - Bad Gones and Lyon 1950 - did not attend the game.

Lyon's fans are generally unhappy with the players and how the club is being run. Fans deployed an insulting banner toward the players during Thursday's home defeat to West Ham in the quarterfinals of the Europa League, and tried to invade the field afterward.

Bordeaux has conceded a league-high 77 goals and remains deep in relegation trouble in 19th. It hosts fellow struggler Saint-Etienne on Wednesday.

OTHER MATCHES

Elsewhere Sunday, it was Metz 1, Clermont 1; Montpellier 0, Reims 0; and Nantes 1, Angers 1.

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