PARIS (AP) — Mason Greenwood scored his league-leading 15th goal of the season as Marseille held on for a much-needed 1-0 win at Toulouse to move into third place in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
The English forward turned in a cross from Brazilian winger Igor Paixão in the 17th minute to move one ahead of Strasbourg forward Joaquín Panichelli in the scoring charts.
It was Marseille’s first clean sheet in the league since mid-December.
Marseille lost to Toulouse in the French Cup quarterfinals this week, and realistically only has Champions League qualification to aim for.
The top three in France qualify directly while the fourth-place team enters the playoffs. Marseille is one point ahead of Lyon, which can reclaim third spot on Sunday.
Toulouse forward Yann Gboho, who scored in the midweek cup game, hit the crossbar 10 minutes after the break. But Marseille’s defense held firm this time.
In Saturday’s other matches, relegation battler Nantes lost 1-0 at home to Angers and eighth-place Strasbourg drew 0-0 at Auxerre.
Panichelli surprisingly started on the bench and only came on midway through the second half.
Fan protests
Nantes was once a regular title contender but now sits a dismal 17th in the 18-team league.
Relegation battles have been regular in the last few seasons and disgruntled fans want owner Waldemar Kita to leave.
They were also angry that Kita, in their view, meekly accepted leader Paris Saint-Germain’s request to postpone next weekend’s game against Nantes.
It allows PSG more time to prepare for the Champions League last-16 return leg at Chelsea on March 17, but creates an unwelcome backlog for Nantes in its relegation scrap.
Striker Amine Sbaï scored for 11th-place Angers.
Tense title race
PSG’s 3-1 home defeat to Monaco on Friday opened the door for rival Lens, which can move within one point at the top by beating rock-bottom Metz on Sunday.
Lyon needs to bounce back from two league defeats and a French Cup exit when it hosts Paris FC, which won under new coach Antoine Kombouaré last weekend. ___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer