Lamah thwarts Montpellier, Grenoble relegated

Montpellier spurned the chance to take a provisional lead of the French first division after being held to a 2-2 draw at second-bottom Le Mans on Saturday, while Grenoble were relegated.

Roland Lamah was the star for Le Mans, putting them ahead after just 16 seconds — the quickest goal of the Ligue 1 season — and equalising in the 70th minute after Montpellier had turned the match around through Karim Ait Fana and a disputed Souleymane Camara penalty.

Montpellier skipper Cyril Jeunechamp was sent off before the break after an altercation with Le Mans coach Arnaud Cormier, sparking a set-to that resulted in Cormier’s Montpellier counterpart Rene Girard being sent to the stands.

“We knew that the start of the match would be important and that we’d have to be vigilant but we started in the worst way possible,” said Girard.

“But I thought that at 2-1 the match was over, so it’s a shame.”

Montpellier move into second place, a point behind leaders Marseille, who have two games in hand on them and host Nice on Sunday.

Defending champions Bordeaux, eliminated from the Champions League by Lyon on Wednesday, can go level on points with Marseille if they win at Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s late match.

Bottom club Grenoble’s inevitable relegation was confirmed when they lost 4-0 at Toulouse and fourth-bottom Saint-Etienne won 2-0 at Sochaux to move 11 points clear of the relegation zone and, crucially, an insurmountable 20 points clear of Grenoble, who have won just three games all season.

“We’re officially in Ligue 2 tonight but we’d known that for a while already,” said Grenoble coach Mehmed Bazdarevic.

“This evening we were far from having the level of a Ligue 1 team. It’s been a difficult season. We’ve never had the peacefulness you need to work well.”

Boulogne’s hopes of avoiding the drop received a heavy blow as a Toifilou Maoulida hat-trick consigned the third-bottom north coast outfit to a 3-0 defeat at Lens.

The Brittany derby between seventh-placed Rennes and eighth-placed Lorient finished 1-1 at the home of the latter, allowing Monaco to move to within a point of both clubs by coming from behind to win 2-1 at home to Valenciennes.