Gignac brace as Marseille delay PSG's title celebrations
ByReuters
Updated 04/05/2013 at 20:52 GMT
Marseille made a giant step towards a Champions League spot as Andre-Pierre Gignac's double earned them a 2-1 home win against Bastia and delayed arch rivals Paris St Germain's Ligue 1 title celebrations.
Second-placed OM have 67 points with three games left and trail PSG, who play their game in hand against Valenciennes on Sunday, by six points.
Victory would effectively give PSG their first French league title since 1994 as they have a massive goal-difference advantage over OM (+41 to +7).
Marseille, who had Mathieu Valbuena to thank for two assists, lead third-placed Lyon by seven points before the seven-times champions travel to Nancy on Sunday, while fourth-placed St Etienne lag eight points behind OM.
The top two Ligue 1 teams qualify directly for the Champions League group stage while the third-placed team go into the third qualifying round.
"It was tough tonight but we enjoyed it," Valbuena told French TV channel Canal Plus.
"When Bastia equalised, we did not give up, that's what matters. We want that second place."
Lille's hopes of clinching a Champions League spot took a major blow when they were beaten 4-2 at Toulouse.
Marko Basa and Salomon Kalou's goals cancelled out Wissam Ben Yedder and Etienne Didot's early strikes for the hosts, only for the visitors to concede two more goals after the break.
Daniel Braaten put Toulouse in front again with some cool finishing after collecting a defence-splitting pass and substitute Eden Ben Basat put the result beyond doubt from Braaten's pass one minute from time.
Lille remain fifth on 57 points, three behind Lyon.
At the Stade Velodrome, OM got off to a brilliant start as Gignac collected Valbuena's through ball and chipped the ball past Mickael Landreau in the 12th minute.
Bastia equalised one minute into the second half when Florian Thauvin beat Steve Mandanda with a fine 25-metre shot.
Landreau tipped away Morgan Amalfitano's rising shot over the bar and denied Jordan Ayew from just inside the box as the visitors held firm.
Nine minutes from time, however, Gignac was again at the receiving end of a Valbuena long pass and fired past Landreau.
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