Brest see off Montpelllier to go third in Ligue 1
Brest climbed to third in Ligue 1 on Sunday with a 2-0 home victory over Montpellier to continue their surprise push for European football.
Hugo Magnetti opened the scoring just after half-time in Brittany and substitute Jeremy Le Douaron struck in stoppage time to seal a sixth win in seven games for Eric Roy’s side.
They moved above Monaco and to within a point of Nice after both those sides lost on Saturday, and sit in an automatic Champions League qualification spot.
“We’re going through a good patch, we have to make the most of it. We know in football things happen very quickly, one way or another,” said Roy, the one-time Sunderland midfielder.
Brest are six points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who can extend their advantage later on Sunday away to last season’s runners-up Lens.
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Lille eased to a 3-0 win over Lorient with goals from Jonathan David, Remy Cabella and Edon Zhegrova. Clermont’s 2-1 victory at Nantes pushed Lorient to the foot of the table.
Toulouse picked up only their third win of the season after beating Metz 1-0, leaving Lyon in the relegation play-off spot after they lost 3-1 at Le Havre.
Gautier Lloris, the brother of former France goalkeeper Hugo, put Le Havre ahead with Emmanuel Sabbi and Christopher Operi striking either side of a goal from Alexandre Lacazette.
Lyon had Jake O’Brien sent off in the first half and finished with nine men as Duje Caleta-Car also saw red, their mini-revival abruptly halted after finishing 2023 with three wins in a row.