Mathieu Valbuena scored the winner as Marseille moved a step closer
to clinching the French title for the first time in 18 years by
beating Saint-Etienne 1-0 on Sunday.
Valbuena's sixth-minute goal at Stade Velodrome kept
Marseille five points clear of second-place Auxerre with only four
games remaining.
Marseille fans are counting down the weeks as their team's
seemingly unstoppable charge toward the title shows no sign of
slowing. Didier Deschamps' side has won its last seven league
matches in a row and is unbeaten in Ligue 1 since Jan. 30.
After 34 rounds, Marseille has 71 points and second-place
Auxerre has 66. Lille is 10 points behind Marseille in third.
"We are winning these kind of games at the moment. We could
have killed the game off in the first half, and then we suffered in
the second half," Deschamps said. "But we were solid at the back
and that's what counts."
When Saint-Etienne midfielder Dimitri Payet lost possession
in midfield, Brazilian striker Brandao picked up the loose ball and
passed it right to Valbuena, who beat Jeremie Janot with a shot
into the left corner.
It was Valbuena's third goal in as many matches and increased
the diminutive winger's chances of being called up to France coach
Raymond Domenech's World Cup squad next month.
Marseille can move eight points clear at the top and all but
wrap up the title if it wins at Auxerre on Friday.
"If we manage to take three points off Auxerre, we will have
taken a giant step," Marseille defender Souleymane Diawara said.
"But they are in top form at the moment and they are great at
home."
Poland striker Ireneusz Jelen scored twice as second-placed
Auxerre won 3-0 at Toulouse.
After midfielder Benoit Pedretti gave Auxerre the lead in the
47th minute, Jelen took his league tally to 13 this season with
goals in the 68th and 79th.
Jean Fernandez's Auxerre team is unbeaten in the league since
Feb. 6. Fernandez played down his side's chance of winning the
league but is confident of qualifying for a Champions League spot.
"It's a good win for us because we have two really hard games
coming up, Marseille followed by Lyon," Fernandez said. "We can
start thinking about Europe."
Auxerre claimed the lead when Pedretti's free kick
wrongfooted goalkeeper Olivier Blondel.
Daniel Niculae set up Jelen's first with a long pass
perfectly into his strike partner's path. Without breaking stride,
Jelen beat Blondel with a powerful strike under the crossbar.
Slovenia winger Valter Birsa was the provider for the third
goal when he broke down the left and his measured cross was
expertly turned in by Jelen.
Lens drew 1-1 with Valenciennes in Sunday's other game.
Sebastien Roudet gave Lens the lead late in the first half,
but Gregory Pujol equalized in the 73rd with his first goal since
Nov. 1 to earn Valenciennes a point.
On Saturday, defending champion Bordeaux lost for the fourth
time in the last five games, beaten 1-0 at Lorient.
In Saturday's other matches, it was: Le Mans 1, Lille 2;
Nancy 0, Montpellier 0; Nice 2, Grenoble 1; Sochaux 0, Boulogne 3
and Paris Saint-Germain 1, Rennes 1.
Lyon's home game with Monaco was postponed until next month
because Claude Puel's side is playing Bayern Munich in the second
leg of the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday. Bayern leads
1-0.
