Ligue 1: Marseille end slump with Strasbourg win; Wissam Ben Yedder strikes late to give Monaco victory over Rennes

Paris: Marseille ended a four-match winless streak in Ligue 1 on Sunday after Boubacar Kamara’s early strike and a late Kevin Strootman penalty saw them to a deserved victory over lowly Strasbourg. [caption id=“attachment_7527861” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Boubacar Kamara’s early opener for Marseille was his first goal of the season. AFP[/caption] Kamara, 19, struck the opener with just two minutes on the clock when his shot was deflected home by Strasbourg defender Ludovic Ajoruqe, and Strootman finished off with a calm spot-kick deep in stoppage time after Dario Benedetto was brought down by Mohamed Simakan. The win sends Andre Villas Boas’ inconsistent side fourth, one point off the Champions League places, while Strasbourg drop to the bottom of the league after a performance that offered little. However, Marseille are still eight points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who swatted Nice aside 4-1 on Friday. Marseille and bitter rivals PSG meet next weekend but Villas-Boas played down the significance of the fixture. “It will be a totally different match, against a team that is not in the same league,” he said. “We will play the match for the match, but it is not a game that matters too much for me.” The hosts could have easily won by more, striking the woodwork either side of half-time through Duje Caleta-Car and Nemanja Radonjic. Benedetto also wasted a decent opportunity in the 56th minute with Marseille still just a goal up when he failed to get a contact on Maxine Lopez’s cross, but in the end, it mattered little. Wissam Ben Yedder fired Monaco out of the Ligue 1 mire with a stoppage-time winner that earned an entertaining 3-2 win over Rennes. Yedder pounced on Keita Balde’s flick two minutes into added time to lash home a powerful left-foot finish and send Leonardo Jardim’s side up to 14th just as it looked as if a handball spotted by VAR had denied them the three points. The scores were level thanks to Islam Slimani equalising Faitout Maouassa and Adrien Honou’s strikes for Rennes when Balde thought he had won the game for Monaco seconds before Yedder’s winner. In-form Ben Yedder Balde capitalised on a dreadful error by Rennes goalkeeper Romain Salin to roll the ball into an empty net, only for the video assistants to spot him controlling the ball with his hand. The last-gasp winner was Ben Yedder’s eighth goal in as many league matches, putting him top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts and making fans forget Radamel Falcao’s departure to Galatasaray. “I’m very happy, it wasn’t an easy match. We scored in the last seconds and it was a very good goal, so I’m very happy,” said Ben Yedder. The late goal means they are now level on 12 points with Toulouse, Amiens and 12th-placed Rennes, who have not won a match since August. Claude Puel continued his perfect start as Saint-Etienne coach. Denis Bouanga’s stoppage-time penalty at Bordeaux launched Puel’s side into the top half of the table. The 10-time French champions were second-bottom in Ligue 1 after their home loss to Metz late last month but have won three straight, the last two under Puel. Their turnaround in form, which includes a victory over local rivals Lyon in Puel’s first match, has moved them to 10th place. Bordeaux meanwhile missed the chance to move into the Champions League positions with their second home loss on the bounce.