The China Mail - Marseille take revenge on Toulouse and rise to third in Ligue 1

On a weekend of payback victories, Marseille gained some revenge three days after Toulouse eliminated them from the French Cup on penalties.

When Igor Paixao escaped on the left after 18 minutes, Greenwood made a late sprint from midfield and met the winger's pullback with an emphatic finish.

Ten minutes later, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pounced on a poor back-pass from Cristian Casserez, rounded Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes but dragged his low shot wide.

Marseilles sat back in the second half but the closest Toulouse came was a Yann Gboho shot that smashed against the crossbar.

Greenwood, taken off after 65 minutes after collecting a yellow card, edged ahead of Strasbourg's Joaquin Panichelli at the top of the scoring charts with 15 goals.

In the earlier games, the focus was on the battle to escape the two automatic relegation places.

Auxerre tightened their grip on 18th, the playoff spot, as they drew 0-0 at home with Strasbourg to move two points clear of Nantes who lost 1-0 at home to nearby Angers.

On Friday, Monaco took revenge for their Champions League elimination when they won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain.

The result was a setback for PSG in their bid to win a fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title. The closest challengers Lens could trim the lead at the top to one point by beating bottom side Metz on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Lyon can retake third place if they beat Paris FC.

H.Ng--ThChM