PSG leapfrog Marseille as Lille soar to summit

Paris Saint-Germain climbed to second place in the French first division with a 3-1 defeat of Brest on Saturday, as champions Marseille crashed to a last-gasp 1-0 loss at Nice.

Marseille were bidding to take over at the summit from Lille, 6-3 victors over Lorient earlier in the day, but they were undone by a goal in the second minute of injury time from Nice midfielder Emerse Fae.

The champions had dominated the game at the home of their Mediterranean near neighbours but struggled to create clear chances.

Nice goalkeeper David Ospina saved bravely at the feet of Lucho Gonzalez in the first half, while Ghana starlet Andre Ayew had a header ruled out for offside with just over 20 minutes to play.

The hosts made Marseille pay with almost the last kick of the match as Chaouki Ben Saada wriggled down the right before finding Anthony Mounier, whose cutback was side-footed home from 10 yards by the unmarked Fae.

Didier Deschamps’s side slipped to fourth as a consequence and even more galling for their fans will be the sight of fierce rivals PSG two places above them in the table — and just a point behind Lille.

Paris took a fifth-minute lead at Parc des Princes when Nene slammed home a volley but they failed to capitalise on their ascendancy and Nolan Roux drew Brest level eight minutes into the second half.

PSG quickly re-assumed control, however, with Mathieu Bodmer restoring their advantage four minutes later before Ludovic Giuly sealed victory in the 76th minute when he converted crisply from Guillaume Hoarau’s flick-on.

Saint-Etienne, 11th, host 10th-placed Bordeaux in Sunday’s late game.

Earlier, Senegal striker Moussa Sow claimed a hat-trick as Lille returned to the top of the standings with an extraordinary 6-3 win at home to Lorient in their rearranged game.

The game had been postponed due to snow on Saturday and it was the visitors who struck first at Stadium Lille Metropole, as Kevin Gameiro raced away from France team-mate Adil Rami before beating Lille goalkeeper Mickael Landreau.

Gameiro claimed a second in first-half injury-time, lashing home at the back post from a corner, but Lille had by that stage scored two goals of their own through Sow and a Maxime Baca own goal.

Sow restored Lille’s lead three minutes into the second half when he headed in Florent Balmont’s cross, but Lynel Kitambala made it 3-3 shortly afterwards when he converted Gameiro’s centre with a close-range volley.

Lorient were level for just a minute, however, with Gervinho quickly restoring Lille’s lead before Sow completed his hat-trick with a curler from the edge of the box and Pierre-Alain Frau tapped in late on for number six.

“It was a super match,” said Lille coach Rudi Garcia. “But to play a great match you need two great teams and Lorient played very well as well. It’s a pleasure to see your team like that.”

It was sweet revenge for Garcia’s side, who were denied a place in this season’s Champions League by a 2-1 defeat at Lorient on the final day of last season, and leaves the Brittany side 12th in the standings.