Ligue 1 wrap: Draw sends Lens down

Lens were relegated from Ligue 1 after they could only manage a 1-1 draw away to fellow strugglers Monaco on Sunday.

Nothing less than a win would have sufficed for second bottom Lens and that never looked likely as they trailed for much of the match to Benjamin Moukandjo’s 13th-minute goal at the Stade Louis II.

While Lens were unable to prevent their two-year stay in the top flight from ending, they did manage to strike a major blow to Monaco’s own survival hopes, with Raphael Varane’s equaliser in the 94th minute robbing the hosts of all three points.

A win would have kept Monaco out of the relegation zone.

But the draw, combined with Nancy’s 3-0 victory at home to Nice, means Laurent Banide’s side slip into the bottom three, one point off safety with two rounds of the season remaining.

Youssouf Hadji, Pascal Berenguer and Bakaye Traore were on target in the win for Nancy, who move out of the drop zone and join 16th-placed Brest on 42 points.

Stade Rennes remain in the hunt for a Europa League place after they beat Saint-Etienne 2-1 away from home.

Rennes are fifth, two points behind Paris Saint-Germain, but have now played one match more than the fourth-placed side.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Caen defeated Montpellier 2-0 at home, while Auxerre managed a 1-1 draw away to Valenciennes, courtesy of Jo-Gook Jung’s 87th-minute equaliser.

Finally, a goal from Algerian international Kamel Fathi Ghilas gave relegated Arles a 1-0 win at home to Toulouse.