Lille ease back into third in Ligue 1 with Toulouse win / Photo: Valentine CHAPUIS - AFP
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Lille ease back into third in Ligue 1 with Toulouse win
Lille reclaimed third place in Ligue 1 with a comfortable 4-0 win away to 10-man Toulouse on Sunday.
Full-backs Thomas Meunier and Romain Perraud netted either side of the break, before Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Olivier Giroud wrapped up the victory to send Bruno Genesio's side back above Marseille in the final Champions League qualification spot.
Lille have 53 points, one more than Habib Beye's Marseille in the battle for a direct spot in the league phase of the next edition of Europe's premier club competition.
Right-back Meunier's deflected effort finished off a slick team move to send Lille in front on 23 minutes.
The hosts, safely ensconced in 10th spot in the table, seemed to already have one eye on their upcoming French Cup semi-final with surprise Ligue 1 title challengers Lens and rarely threatened, barring one frantic corner on the quarter hour which saw the ball rebound off the Lille goal.
The encounter was ultimately decided inside the opening five minutes of the second period.
Nabil Bentaleb threaded an excellent through-ball for Fernandez-Pardo to run onto before he was hauled down by a retreating Mark McKenzie, who promptly received his marching orders.
From the resulting set-piece, left-back Perraud drilled a fizzing low shot from a central position 25 yards out from goal, which flew past Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes.
Belgian forward Fernandez-Pardo then made it three as the 21-year-old turned on captain Benjamin Andre's pass and stroked home right-footed on 55 minutes.
Giroud converted from the spot two minutes from time to notch his seventh goal of the campaign.
Nice drew 1-1 with Le Havre in a battle of two sides seeking to put more distance between themselves and the relegation play-off spot.
Ally Samatta sent Le Havre ahead on 41 minutes, before Ali Abdi grabbed a vital leveller for the hosts just shy of the hour.
Nice trail their opponents by one point but remain four clear of 16th-placed Auxerre.
Later Sunday, Lyon can close to within two points of Lille when they host mid-table Lorient.
M.Thompson--AMWN
