Marseille break into top four as Monaco edge Rennes
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Kevin Strootman scores their second goal REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
(Reuters) - Olympique Marseille broke into the Ligue 1 top four after goals Boubacar Kamara and Kevin Strootman gave them a 2-0 home win over struggling Strasbourg on Sunday.
In the day’s early fixtures, Monaco eased their relegation woes with a last-gasp 3-2 defeat of Rennes while Girondins Bordeaux suffered a 1-0 setback against visiting St Etienne.
Kamara netted a third-minute opener for 1993 European Cup champions Marseille, blasting a deflected shot past keeper Matz Sels after Strasbourg failed to clear a low free kick driven into the area from the left.
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Steve Mandanda in action REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
The home side then missed several chances as Croatian defender Duje Caleta-Car and Serbia winger Nemanja Radonjic hit the woodwork while Argentine Dario Benedetto scuffed a close-range shot wide.
Dutch midfielder Strootman sealed the win with a stoppage-time penalty after Benedetto was brought down by a visiting defender.
The result left Marseille fourth on 16 points from 10 games while Strasbourg stayed bottom on nine points.
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Kevin Strootman in action with RC Strasbourg's Adrien Thomasson REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
Wissam Ben Yedder scored a 90th-minute winner for Monaco to cap a memorable evening after giving his side an early lead in a rollercoaster, as the visitors hit back through Faitout Maouassa and Adrien Hunou.
Algeria striker Islam Slimani, on loan at Monaco from Leicester City, levelled in the 56th minute before Ben Yedder delighted the home fans as the principality side moved up to 14th place, two points clear of the bottom three.
A 90th-minute penalty from Denis Bouanga gave St Etienne a surprise win at sixth-placed Bordeaux and allowed the visitors to move up to 10th place.
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Duje Caleta Car is shown a yellow card by referee Jerome Brisard REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
(Reporting by Zoran Milosavljevic, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Dario Benedetto in action with RC Strasbourg's Mohamed Simakan REUTERS/Jean-Paul PelissierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 RC Strasbourg's Ibrahima Sissoko in action with Olympique de Marseille's Hiroki Sakai REUTERS/Jean-Paul PelissierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Maxime Lopez in action with RC Strasbourg's Lamine Kone REUTERS/Jean-Paul PelissierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Duje Caleta Car in action with RC Strasbourg's Adrien Thomasson REUTERS/Jean-Paul PelissierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Nemanja Radonjic in action with RC Strasbourg's Matz Sels REUTERS/Jean-Paul PelissierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 RC Strasbourg's Matz Sels in action REUTERS/Jean-Paul PelissierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Olympique de Marseille v RC Strasbourg - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 20, 2019 Olympique de Marseille's Maxime Lopez in action with RC Strasbourg's Anthony Caci REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
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