Lille secures spot in Champions League

Lille made certain of a top-three finish in Ligue 1 and a place in the Champions League with a comfortable 3-0 victory over mid-table Caen.

Les Dogues made it six wins on the trot with two goals from Tulio De Melo, the first from the penalty spot, plus a second-half strike from Dimitri Payet.

The win leaves Lille 12 points clear of fourth-placed Lyon, who can no longer overtake their rivals with just three games remaining.

Rudi Garcia's men also kept alive their outside hopes of a successful title defence, with Montpellier and Paris St Germain still within reach.

Lille threatened after just two minutes with Eden Hazard's cross fired into the side-netting by Payet.

But they were awarded a penalty after 25 minutes when goalkeeper Alexis Thebaux fouled Hazard in the area. De Melo took the spot-kick and made no mistake with a shot high into the net.

De Melo then added another 10 minutes later, heading home a corner from Hazard to put Lille in control of proceedings.

The home side continued to dominate after the interval, with Aurelien Chedjou firing over the crossbar before Payet saw a shot smothered by Thebaux.

But a third goal arrived after 59 minutes courtesy of Payet, who ran on to a long pass from Hazard before curling the ball beyond the reach of the Caen goalkeeper.

De Melo came close to completing a hat-trick five minutes later but his stunning volley crashed back off the crossbar.

On-loan midfielder Joe Cole also tried to add his name to the scoresheet as the clock ticked down, but Thebaux got down well to block the Englishman's angled drive.