Giovanni Sio equaliser subdues Monaco while crisis-hit Marseille falter again in Ligue 1

From left: Monaco's Fortuna Dos Santos Wallace and Guido Carillo vie with Rennes' Giovanni Sio and Rennes' goalkeeper Benoit Costil during the French Ligue 1 football match on April 24, 2016 at the RoShow more

Paris // Giovanni Sio struck a controversial equaliser for Rennes in a 1-1 draw to dent Monaco's Uefa Champions League hopes, while struggling French giants Marseille saw their record winless home run extended to 15 matches in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Monaco are wrestling with Lyon, Nice and Saint-Etienne for a pair of Champions League berths, and grabbed a 14th-minute lead at Roazhon Park when Helder Costa steered home after Nabil Dirar’s clever flick from a long throw.

But Ivory Coast international Sio snatched a contentious equaliser 10 minutes from time, controlling the ball with his hand before beating Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic from close range as the visitors’ protests fell on deaf ears.

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Fabinho nearly scored a dramatic injury-time winner for Monaco, but the Brazilian’s effort was cleared off the line by Fallou Diagne as Rennes ended their two-game losing run.

“I think Monaco played better and created three or four good situations,” said the principality club’s coach Leonardo Jardim.

“We missed these chances and then Rennes scored a beautiful goal with a piece of control of great quality,” he added bitterly of the equaliser.

“When you work, you always do so to win, and when you don’t win you are disappointed, but it is still in our hands if we are to reach our objective.”

Monaco trail second-place Lyon, 3-2 winners at Toulouse on Saturday, on goal difference in the race for France’s second automatic Champions League qualifying spot, with Nice and Saint-Etienne both two points adrift.

Earlier, crisis-hit Marseille were again left to rue costly mistakes as the 10-man hosts were held to a 1-1 draw by Nantes.

Sunday’s game at the Velodrome was played in front of fewer than 20,000 fans as Marseille served a partial stadium ban following crowd trouble during their 0-0 draw against Bordeaux a fortnight ago.

Michy Batshuayi went close to scoring the opening goal on 29 minutes when his low strike was tipped onto the post by Nantes goalkeeper Maxime Dupe, but it was a familiar tale as Nicolas Nkoulou gifted Nantes the lead two minutes later.

A breakdown in communication between Nkoulou and goalkeeper Steve Mandanda resulted in the former diverting a cross into his own net when there appeared to be little danger.

However Florian Thauvin, whose goal in a 1-0 win against Sochaux in midweek sent Marseille through to next month’s French Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain, grabbed an equaliser just after the break.

But Marseille’s hopes of snapping a 10-match winless streak in the top flight suffered a damaging blow when Alaixys Romao was sent off on 55 minutes for kicking out at Yacine Bammou.

And there was worse to come for OM as Abou Diaby, starting his second straight game after 18 months out through injury, hobbled off midway through the second half.

“There was a lack of rhythm in the first half and we started the game poorly. Then there was the goal which was a bit unlucky and that knocked down my players’ confidence to a level even lower than it was at the start of the game against Sochaux,” said OM interim coach Franck Passi.

“Since the start of the season quite a few things have gone against us, but the players never give up. Faced with adversity, to get back level and earn a point is important,” he added, with OM five points above the relegation zone with three games left to play.

Saint-Etienne remain firmly in the hunt for the third and final Champions League place as Nolan Roux struck two second-half goals in a 2-0 victory over Lorient, stretching their winning run to five matches.

Montpellier all but banished their relegation fears after thrashing bottom side Troyes 4-1, while Gazelec Ajaccio climbed out of the bottom three, at the expense of Reims, following a 3-2 victory against Bastia in the Corsica derby.

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