PARIS (AP) — French league surprise front-runner Brest continued its remarkable march toward the Champions League on Sunday, securing a 1-0 home win against Le Havre to move four points clear in second place with 10 rounds remaining.
Influential midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou’s 34th-minute goal was enough to settle a close match. He finished with a powerful first-time shot from Mathias Pereira Lage’s cross as Brest gained two points on third-place Monaco, which drew 0-0 at home to Paris Saint-Germain on Friday.
Defending champion PSG is nine points clear and appears out of sight.
But Brest’s focus is on qualifying for Europe’s elite club competition for the first time, having one of the league’s smallest budgets and never previously finishing higher than eighth place.
Nice missed the chance to reclaim fourth spot when it lost 2-1 at Toulouse.
Nigeria striker Terem Moffi put Nice ahead early on from Evann Guessand’s cross.
But Toulouse forwards Thijs Dallinga and Yann Gboho scored in quick succession midway through the second half.
In other matches, forward Arnaud Nordin scored both goals for Montpellier in a 2-2 home draw with Strasbourg, and Metz picked up a valuable 2-0 win at Nantes.
Rennes faced struggling Lorient later Sunday and resurgent Lyon hosted Lens.
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