PARIS (Reuters) - Olympique de Marseille substitute Nemanja Radonjic struck again to salvage a 1-1 Ligue 1 draw at Metz on Saturday but even his late intervention failed to prevent the end of his side's six-game winning streak.
Serbian midfielder Radonjic scored his fourth goal in five games -- all after coming off the bench -- to cancel out Opa Nguette's opener.
OM Substitute keeper Yohann Pele, who replaced the injured Steve Mandanda in the first half, saved a penalty after the break to maintain his team's hopes in a balanced encounter
It put second-placed OM on 35 points from 18 matches, four behind leaders Paris St Germain, who have two games in hand.
Lille are third on 31 points after beating Montpellier 2-1 at home on Friday.
Metz, who have not won in their last eight league matches, are now 17th in the table with 16 points from 18 games.
They went ahead five minutes before the break when Nguette, at the near post, latched onto a cross from Fabien Centonze.
Pele was decisive in the 50th minute, parrying Habib Diallo's penalty after Hiroko Sakai had fouled Nguette in the area.
Marseille struggled to threaten even after Bouna Sarr had been replaced at halftime by Andre Villas Boas's favourite impact player, Radonjic.
They did, however, get back in contention when Radonjic fired home from fellow substitute Valere Germain's cross in the 70th minute.
Champions PSG travel to St Etienne on Sunday without striker Edinson Cavani, who picked up a muscle injury during Wednesday's 5-0 Champions League win against Galatasaray.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ian Chadband)
