Marseille beats Boulogne to inch closer to title

PARIS (AP) -- Marseille beat Boulogne 2-1 Saturday to consolidate its lead in the French league and inch closer to the title.

Taye Taiwo converted a penalty in stoppage time to give Marseille its sixth straight win, after a header from Brandao had hit Yoann Lachor's arm.

Mathieu Valbuena opened the scoring with a low diagonal shot in the 43rd minute from a pass from Mamadou Niang. But Jeremy Blayac took advantage of a poor clearance from the Marseille defense to equalize from close range for Boulogne in the 82nd.

Marseille tops the standings after 33 rounds with 68 points, five clear of Auxerre which routed Lorient 4-1 to retain second place.

Bordeaux played Lyon later on Saturday.

Also Saturday it was: Rennes 0, Nancy 0; Valenciennes 0, Le Mans 1; Nice 0, Lens 0; Grenoble 2, Sochaux 2.

In Auxerre, Daniel Niculae fed Dennis Oliech who shot past Lorient goalkeeper Fabien Audard in the 36th. Poland forward Ireneusz Jelen notched his 11th goal this season to double the lead for Auxerre in the 38th with a lob, and Slovenia midfielder Valter Birsa curled a free kick into the top corner to make it 3-0 in the 56th.

Lorient was down to 10 men in the 58th after Jeremy Morel was sent off for picking up a second yellow card. Kevin Gameiro still pulled one back for Lorient in the 81st, raising his tally to 14 goals this season to become the second most prolific scorer in the league.

Audard was red-carded in the 86th for fouling Jelen, who was clean through on goal. Cedric Hengbart converted the ensuing penalty to seal the win for Auxerre.

In Valenciennes, Sebastien Corchia gave 10-man Le Mans the victory with a free kick in stoppage time. Guillaume Loriot was sent off in the 83rd for receiving a second yellow card.

Le Mans remained in the relegation zone with 28 points.

In Grenoble, Jeremie Brechet nodded in a free kick in the 75th to salvage a draw for Sochaux.

Brown Ideye had headed in a corner from Marvin Martin to put Sochaux ahead in the 27th. But Danijel Ljuboja beat the offside trap to level for last-place Grenoble in the 55th before Japan midfielder Daisuke Matsui converted a rebound in the 62nd to give Grenoble the lead.

On Sunday, Montpellier hosts Toulouse, Lille faces Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain visits Saint-Etienne.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.