PARIS (AP) — Forwards Amine Gouiri and Mason Greenwood scored late goals as second-placed Marseille beat Nantes 2-0 to stay three points clear of Nice in the French league on Sunday.
Greenwood looped a pass over the defense and Valentin Rongier pulled the ball back to Gouiri, who finished neatly in the 73rd minute.
Four minutes later, Greenwood beat three defenders before curling in his 15th league goal of the season. He is three behind Ligue 1 top scorer Ousmane Dembélé of unbeaten leader Paris Saint-Germain, which is 13 points ahead of Marseille.
Third-placed Nice is three points ahead of Monaco and five clear of Lille in the race for Champions League places next season.
Earlier, Alexandre Lacazette made up for giving away an early penalty by scoring twice as Lyon beat Brest 2-1 in a match where Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca was sent off deep into stoppage time for angrily reacting to a potential Brest penalty.
After being red-carded, an irate Fonseca then confronted referee Benoît Millot and leaned in very close to his face before being pushed away by Lyon captain Corentin Tolisso. Fonseca tried to confront the referee a second time and was restrained by a couple of Lyon players.
‘I'm sorry for what I did’
The Portuguese coach could face a lengthy suspension and he apologized afterward.
“I just want to say that I'm sorry for what I did. I should not do it,” Fonseca told broadcaster DAZN. “Maybe we do things that are not right. I'm sorry.”
The handball decision itself then went to a video replay and a penalty was not given.
Millot said Fonseca's behavior was unacceptable.
“He rushed toward me with an intimidating attitude and I decided to send him off directly,” he told sports daily L'Équipe. "There was, it seems, a slight contact with the nose. (It was) a particularly intimidating, aggressive attitude, which one can hardly imagine from a professional coach."
This incident came after Marseille president Pablo Longoria accused French referees of “ true corruption " following a defeat last weekend. Longoria was given a 15-match ban.
Kenny Lala's penalty put Brest ahead after Lacazette held back a player. Lacazette equalized midway through the first half after being set up by Rayan Cherki, then netted the winner in the 82nd with Cherki again the provider.
The victory consolidated Lyon's grip on sixth place while Lacazette moved onto nine league goals and 194 overall for the club.
Only Fleury Di Nallo is ahead with 222 goals, but Lacazette may not catch him since he is in the final year of his contract.
Big road wins for Rennes and Toulouse
Rennes won 4-0 at rock-bottom Montpellier with Seko Fofana scoring his first goal for the club and top scorer Arnaud Kalimuendo completing the rout.
They were teammates for two seasons at Lens, where Fofana made his name before moving to Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.
He joined Rennes in January and was reunited with Kalimuendo, who netted his 11th league goal of the season at the second attempt after his penalty was saved.
Rennes moved into the 11th spot ahead of next Saturday's home game with PSG.
Auxerre lost 1-0 at home to seventh-placed Strasbourg, with Dutch striker Emanuel Emegha grabbing his 11th of the season.
Toulouse is eighth after a 4-0 win at Angers, with English defender Charlie Cresswell among the scorers.
PSG crushed Lille 4-1 on Saturday. ___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press
