Lille v Nice
Yilmaz and Celik strike as Lille stay on title track
Lille stayed firmly on track for a first Ligue 1 title since 2011 when goals by Burak Yilmaz and Mehmet Zeki Celik sent them back to the top of the table with a 2-0 home win against 10-man Nice on Saturday.
Turkey internationals Yilmaz and Celik put Christophe Galtier's team on 76 points with three games left after champions Paris Saint-Germain briefly topped the standings with a 2-1 home win against Lens earlier on Saturday.
Lille lead PSG by one point and third-placed AS Monaco, who host fourth-placed Lyon on Sunday, by five.
Nice, who had Jordan Lotomba sent off three minutes into the second half, are ninth on 46 points.
Lille got off to a fine start with Yilmaz breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute, firing home a low shot from 18 metres after collecting a pass from Jonathan David.
Nice, who failed to muster a single attempt throughout the game, went down to 10 men when Lotomba picked up a second yellow card for a rough challenge on Jonathan Bamba and with him went their hopes of a comeback.
Celik added a second for Lille in the 56th minute with a superb volley from outside the area before another Yilmaz strike crashed against the post eight minutes later.
Lille next face fifth-placed arch-rivals RC Lens away while PSG travel to Stade Rennes.
Game Information
French Ligue 1 Standings
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Saint-Germain | 27 | 20 | 3 | 4 | +38 | 63 |
| Lens | 28 | 19 | 2 | 7 | +27 | 59 |
| Lille | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | +11 | 50 |
| Marseille | 28 | 15 | 4 | 9 | +18 | 49 |
| AS Monaco | 28 | 15 | 4 | 9 | +10 | 49 |
| Lyon | 28 | 14 | 6 | 8 | +12 | 48 |
| Stade Rennais | 28 | 13 | 8 | 7 | +7 | 47 |
| Strasbourg | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | +12 | 43 |
| Lorient | 28 | 9 | 11 | 8 | -4 | 38 |
| Toulouse | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | +4 | 37 |
| Brest | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | -6 | 36 |
| Angers | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | -13 | 33 |
| Paris FC | 28 | 7 | 11 | 10 | -11 | 32 |
| Le Havre AC | 28 | 6 | 10 | 12 | -13 | 28 |
| Nice | 28 | 7 | 6 | 15 | -22 | 27 |
| AJ Auxerre | 28 | 5 | 8 | 15 | -14 | 23 |
| Nantes | 27 | 4 | 6 | 17 | -21 | 18 |
| Metz | 28 | 3 | 6 | 19 | -35 | 15 |

