Marseille secure Champions League place as Mbappe extends stay at PSG – Reuters Sports News

PARIS, May 21 (Reuters) – Olympique de Marseille beat Racing Strasbourg 4-0 to lift AS Monaco into second place in Ligue 1 to qualify for the Champions League group stage with help from RC Lens as the season ended with the news that Kylian Mbappe was staying at Paris St Germain.

Monaco enter the Champions League third qualifying round after Ignatius Ganago’s late goal in a 2-2 draw at Lens denied them the runners-up spot in Saturday’s final round.

All eyes were on the Parc des Princes for the news that Mbappe had signed a new three-year contract with the French champions, who demolished Metz 5-0 with the French striker scoring a hat-trick to finish better Ligue 1 scorer with 28 goals.

The result sent Metz to Ligue 2 with Girondins de Bordeaux, who were relegated after 30 consecutive years in the top flight despite a 4-2 victory at Stade Brestois as they found themselves bottom of the table.

St Etienne salvaged a 1-1 draw at Nantes to finish 18th and set up a relegation/promotion game with AJ Auxerre.

Marseille finished second on 71 points – 15 behind PSG, crowned champions last month, two ahead of Monaco who seemed to cling to second place until Ganago’s goal six minutes into stoppage time deflate them.

Benoit Badiashile had canceled out Przemyslaw Frankowski’s opener for the hosts in the 34th from close range before Wissam Ben Yedder’s second-half goal put Monaco on course for second place.

But Ganago’s strike from inside the box in the dying seconds robbed Monaco of the 10th straight win they needed.

Marseille prevailed in the hunt for direct Champions League qualification with a brace from Gerson and goals from Cengiz Under and Cedric Bakambu, but it was Ganago’s goal for Lens that effectively sealed second place for them.

Stade Rennais, who had long been in contention for a Champions League spot, finished fourth and will play in the Europa League after Serhou Guirassy’s stoppage-time goal saved a 2-2 draw at Lille.

DOUBLE MBAPPE

In Paris, shortly after announcing with club president Nasser Al Khelaifi that he would stay until 2025, Mbappe scored an early brace before Neymar netted his 100th goal for PSG to put the hosts 3- 0 after 32 minutes. Read more

Mbappe, 23, added five extra minutes in the second half after benefiting from poor defending and Metz were reduced to 10 men when Boubacar Traore picked up a second yellow card just before the hour mark.

Angel Di Maria, who was playing his last match with PSG, scored the fifth in the 68th before bursting into tears.

“I would like to thank the president, Nasser Al Khelaifi, for his trust, understanding and patience,” Mbappe said.

“I would also like to thank all Paris Saint-Germain fans, in France and around the world, for their support, especially in recent months. Together, side by side and ambitious, we will make magic in Paris.”

Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris

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