Lille beats Grenoble 1-0 in French league

Mar 14, 2010 - 11:41 PM By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer

PARIS(AP) -- Lille beat last-place Grenoble 1-0 to move within two points of French league leader Bordeaux.

Lille, which beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday, scored just after halftime when Grenoble defender Bostjan Cesar tried to intercept a cross from Emerson and headed into his own net on Sunday.

Bordeaux has 53 points from 27 games, Lille is in fourth spot with 51 points from 28 games.

Also Sunday, Rennes won 2-0 at Valenciennes and moved up to eighth place with 43 points. Rennes winger Sylvain Marveaux opened the scoring and then Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan grabbed his 10th league goal of the season.

Rennes striker Jimmy Briand controlled a cross from Rod Fanni and set up Marveaux for the opening goal in the 26th minute, and Gyan doubled the lead when he turned in a cross from Fabien Lemoine in the 39th.

Marseille missed the chance to increase the pressure on Bordeaux when it was held to a 1-1 draw at Toulouse in Sunday's late game.

"We played three days after a (Europa League) match (against Benfica), so it was not easy, and we struggled to control the game in the first half," Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said. "But at the end of the match, even though we were tired, we still had more chances than Toulouse."

Brazilian striker Brandao put Marseille ahead in the 30th minute when he volleyed in a corner from Hatem Ben Arfa for his seventh league goal of the season.

But Marseille's lead lasted less than 10 minutes as Toulouse equalized when midfielder Paulo Machado curled in a shot past goalkeeper Steve Mandanda from the edge of the penalty area.

Marseille almost won the game in the last minute but Toulouse goalkeeper Yohann Pele did well to save Taye Taiwo's powerful freekick low to his left.

Marseille remains in sixth place, three points behind Bordeaux, having played the same number of games.

"We only got a draw, even though that this is not a bad result in itself at Toulouse," Deschamps said. "But the fact we also drew (at home) against Lorient means we haven't picked up many points (in the last two games)."

Bordeaux was held to a 0-0 draw Saturday away to Monaco and stayed top because second-place Montpellier drew 1-1 at home with third-place Auxerre.

Bordeaux is level with Montpellier but has a better goal difference and has played a game less. Auxerre is one point behind them.

Bordeaux led Montpellier by 10 points and Lyon by 13 at the winter break, but has won just one of its last six league games.

In Saturday's other results, it was: Le Mans 0, Nice 1; Lorient 1, Lens 0; Lyon 1, Saint-Etienne 1; Nancy 1, Boulogne 3; and Paris Saint-Germain 4, Sochaux 1.

(jp)