French Ligue One Roundup, Feb. 5
Rennes beat second-place Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the French league on Saturday to go level on points with its opponent in the standings.
Yacine Brahimi burst through the PSG defense to fire home from the edge of the box in the 19th minute.
Goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez preserved the win by stopping a close-range effort from Guillaume Hoarau in the 75th and tipping around the post a diagonal drive from Brazilian midfielder Nene in injury time.
"I'm disappointed by the result, not by the way we played," PSG coach Antoine Kombouare said. "We created a lot of problems for Rennes. We'll have to fix what went wrong, that is, finishing."
Both teams trail leader Lille by four points.
Meanwhile, Marseille edged Arles-Avignon 1-0 to keep alive its title hopes and climb to fourth place, just a point behind Rennes.
Andre-Pierre Gignac scored the winning goal with a low shot in the 55th after a pass from Brazilian forward Brandao.
Also, it was: Montpellier 1, Saint-Etienne 2; Nice 1, Sochaux 0; Brest 2, Nancy 1; Caen 0, Lorient 2; Lens 1, Valenciennes 1.
Marseille hit the woodwork twice in the first half.
An overhead kick from Gignac hit the bar in the 12th, and a free kick from Argentine midfielder Lucho Gonzalez crashed against the bar in the 29th.
Marseille kept pushing for the winner despite boos by its own supporters at halftime.
"It was a tough match," Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said. "As long as we didn't open the scoring, it was a bit tense. There was also some pressure coming from the stands and we became a bit shaky. Of course we are capable of doing better than that."
Emmanuel Riviere scored twice for Saint-Etienne. He collected a throughball from Loic Perrin to dribble past Montpellier goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren and open the scoring in the 12th, then added a second goal in the 36th with a tap-in off a pass from Laurent Batlles.
Jonas Martin scored a consolation goal for Montpellier in the 86th.
In Nice, defender Nemanja Pejcinovic headed home a free kick in the 29th to put the hosts ahead. Sochaux midfielder Kevin Anin was sent off in the 44th for picking up a second yellow card.
Bruno Grougi gave Brest the victory with a free kick into the top corner in the 88th.
Forward Jonathan Ayite beat goalkeeper Damien Gregorini with a downward header in the 44th before Nancy equalized in the 74th with an own-goal from Brest defender Moise Brou Apanga.
Lorient midfielder Morgan Amalfitano headed in a cross from defender Franco Sosa in the 22nd. France international Kevin Gameiro notched his 11th goal this season to seal the win in the 87th.
In Lens, Issam Jemaa converted a rebound in the 37th after goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau denied the Tunisia forward. But Valenciennes leveled two minutes later with a header from Mathieu Dossevi.
On Sunday, Lille visits Auxerre, Lyon hosts Bordeaux and Toulouse faces Monaco.