Marseille held second-place Auxerre to a 0-0 draw Friday to keep
its five-point lead atop the standings and boost its chances to win
a first French league title in 18 years.
Marseille has 72 points from 35 matches, and could clinch the
title in the next round if it beats Rennes and Auxerre fails to win
at Lyon. Were Auxerre to win its last three matches, Marseille with
its superior goal difference would just need four points to finish
first.
"It's a good point earned," Marseille defender Souleymane
Diawara said. "Today we really did not want to lose the match. Now
there are three matches left. We'll try to take the maximum number
of points to quickly become champions."
Auxerre extended its unbeaten run to 12 games and ended
Marseille's seven-game winning streak.
"We're on a good run," Auxerre coach Jean Fernandez said. "We
wanted to win the match but we were facing the best team in the
league."
In a tactical first half, Marseille created the only chance
with a cross from Mathieu Valbuena that Argentine playmaker Lucho
Gonzalez could only deflect with his knee straight into the arms of
Auxerre goalkeeper Olivier Sorin in the 21st minute.
Marseille stepped up the pressure after the break. Brazilian
forward Brandao came close to opening the scoring with a bouncing
header that sailed inches wide of the post in the 61st. A few
minutes later, Brandao had a strike blocked by Auxerre defender
Cedric Hengbart.
As Marseille gradually tired, Auxerre found more space and
Poland forward Ireneusz Jelen sent a curling shot above the bar in
the 72nd. Then Roy Contout made a low cross across goal in the 88th
but Jelen missed the ball by inches when trying to knock it home.
"We had the best chances although Auxerre had that
opportunity with Jelen at the end that could have hurt us,"
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said. "We keep our destiny in our
feet with three rounds to go."
Brandao was lucky not to get a red card in the 56th for
swinging an elbow into Hengbart's face.
On Saturday, Monaco plays Paris Saint-Germain in the French
Cup final.
On Sunday in the league it's: Montpellier vs. Lyon; Bordeaux
vs. Toulouse; Boulogne vs. Nice; Lille vs. Nancy; Rennes vs.
Sochaux; Saint-Etienne vs. Lens; and Valenciennes vs. Lorient.
