Marseille extends league lead with 1-0 victory at Montpellier
Posted: Wednesday December 16, 1998 06:25 PM
PARIS, France (AP) -- Florian Maurice struck his eleventh league goal of
the season on Wednesday to give leader Marseille a crucial 1-0 win
at Montpellier.
The win puts Rolland Courbis' team on 44 points, three clear of
Bordeaux, which lost 3-1 at Auxerr on Tuesday.
Marseille, which came back from 4-0 behind to beat Montpellier
5-4 in a classic match earlier this season, has now won six of its
nine away league games this season.
Before the match, Montpellier had only dropped two points at
home.
Third-placed Rennes, with just one win its last five games, had
another poor result, losing 2-0 at relegation-threatened Le Havre.
Yugoslav striker Miladin Becanovic put Le Havre on its way with
an eighth minute goal, before Lilian Nalis made the game safe in
the 52nd minute.
Rennes has 31 points, well off the pace of Marseille.
Nantes leapt to fourth place with a comfortable 2-0 win over
Nancy.
Frederic Da Rocha scored twice for the canaries.
UEFA Cup quarterfinalist Lyon lost its chance to go third after
being held 2-2 by Lorient.
Stephane Pedron and Patrice Loko scored first half goals for the
Britanny minnow, before Lyon grabbed a point with a Yannick Fischer
own goal and a late David Linares equalizer.
In other games Wednesday: Lens 1, Sochaux 1; Monaco 1, Toulou7se
1; Paris Saint-Germain 0, Strasbourg 0.
French clubs play one more round of league matches Saturday
before taking a month-long winter break.
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