Ajaccio beat Lille 2-0

Lille:

Lille held on to second place in France's Ligue-1 despite going down to a 2-0 defeat at home to struggling Ajaccio on Saturday. Ajaccio's victory, which came courtesy of long-range efforts from Abdelnasser Ouadah and Martial Martin, moved them up to 16th place. With one game remaining, Lille lead third-placed Monaco by two points. High-flying Lille welcomed Ajaccio to the Stadium Nord on Saturday. In the penultimate round of games in this season's Ligue-1, a victory for Lille would all but confirm their place as runners-up behind champions Lyon. Ajaccio had plenty of incentive themselves, however. At the other end of the table, the Corsican side were one of seven clubs battling to avoid the drop alongside bottom side Istres - and they took the lead in spectacular fashion after only ten minutes. Captain Abdelnasser Ouadah let fly from distance, and his dipping effort left Tony Sylva helpless in the Lille goal. Lille dominated possession for much of the game, but could not capitalise - Matt Moussilou was guilty of wasting some of their best chances. And the visitors were caught with a 'sucker punch' in the 70th minute. The goal was bizarrely similar to the first, Tony Sylva again caught out of position by a long-range effort - this time from Martial Martin, capitalising on a weak clearance. With fellow relegation strugglers Bastia, Caen and Metz also winning, the victory was priceless for Ajaccio. They move up a place to 16th, with one game remaining. Lille stay second, but are now just two points ahead of third-placed Monaco. (AP)