Monaco beats Marseille to move to 2nd place in French league

PARIS (AP) — Monaco stepped up its bid for Champions League football next season with a 2-1 victory over struggling Marseille in the French league on Sunday.

Goals from Bernardo Silva and Andrea Raggi earned Monaco a win that lifted the Principality side to second place in the standings, two points above Lyon.

The French league's runner-up qualifies automatically for the Champions League, with the third-place team entering the playoffs. Already crowned champion, PSG thrashed Caen 6-0 on Saturday and has a 28-point lead over Monaco.

Silva put Monaco in front just after the interval with a low 20-meter shot past keeper Steve Mandanda before Raggi doubled his team's lead from a corner. Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi pulled one back for Marseille in stoppage time.

Marseille, the only French club to win the Champions League, is enduring a miserable league campaign and is winless in 10 league games. With four matches remaining, the southern club has yet to secure its place in the topflight for next season and has recently been put up for sale by owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus.

Marseille is level on points with Montpellier, which defeated Nantes 2-0. Both clubs are now six points above the relegation zone.

Montpellier, the last club to take the French title before Paris Saint-Germain's four straight wins, clinched its first victory in six league games with goals from Bryan Dabo and Ellyes Skhiri.

"We still need to play four finals, but we made a big step forward," Montpellier coach Frederic Hantz said. "It's a wonderful and very important win in the final sprint."

Nantes is in 10th place, four points above Montpellier.

Also, Jimmy Briand scored against his former club as Guingamp won 3-0 at Rennes in the Brittany derby. Moustapha Diallo and Younousse Sankhare also scored for the visitors.