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Lille stays level with Lyon in race for Champions League spot, Nice frustrates Marseille

PARIS (AP) — Matias Fernandez-Pardo’s first-half penalty on Sunday was enough for Lille to stay neck-and-neck with Lyon in Ligue 1’s race for a direct Champions League spot.

Pardo swept the spot kick inside the left post for Lille to beat Paris FC 1-0 away and end Antoine Kombouaré’s unbeaten start as coach since taking over at the Stade Jean-Bouin in February.

Kombouaré’s team pushed hard for an equalizer but had team captain Pierre Lees-Melou sent off late with his second yellow card after reacting badly to his first.

Paris FC was languishing in 15th place with 11 rounds remaining when Kombouaré took over but the experienced 62-year-old steered the team to survival last weekend with a 3-1 win at Metz that put it 13 points above the relegation zone with four rounds to play. Paris FC was taken over in 2024 by France’s richest family, the Arnaults of luxury empire LVMH.

With three rounds remaining, both third-placed Lyon and fourth-placed Lille have 57 points. Only the top three qualify directly for Europe’s premier club competition.

Marseille denied

Elye Wahi scored late with a perfectly taken “Panenka” penalty for Nice to thwart Marseille with a 1-1 draw for a point in its battle for survival.

Wahi, who scored two goals including a penalty in Nice’s French Cup semifinal win over Strasbourg on Wednesday, faced a hostile chorus of whistles from Marseille fans as he prepared to take the spot kick against his former side. Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was booked for delaying the penalty before Wahi calmly chipped the ball in under the crossbar in the center of the goal for Nice’s equalizer in the 88th minute.

Nice goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf preserved the draw as Marseille pushed for the winner in a furious finale that ended with a futile penalty shout for the home side.

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg had scored Marseille’s goal with a diving header in the 66th.

The draw is another disappointment for Marseille after its loss at Lorient last weekend. Marseille stayed sixth, four points off the Champions League spots.

Nice moved five points above Auxerre in the relegation zone.

Rennes wins derby

Rennes defeated local rival Nantes 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time strike from team captain Valentin Rongier.

Rongier muted his celebrations out of respect for the club where he developed as a youth player before graduating to the senior team.

The win kept Rennes fifth, just a point behind Lille and Lyon, while Nantes is second from last in a direct relegation place.

Strasbourg fought back from two goals down and scored twice in stoppage time with Andrew Omobamidele getting the winner to stun Lorient with a 3-2 victory. Strasbourg next faces Spanish side Rayo Vallecano away in the first leg of their Conference League semifinal.

Last-placed Metz staved off relegation for another week at least with a 4-4 draw at Le Havre. Metz was heading toward the second tier until Gauthier Hein headed the visitors’ fourth equalizer of the match in the 85th minute.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Ryan Fox wins first career major at 2026 Open Championship

CNN
(CNN) — Ryan Fox took home the Claret Jug after draining a birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on Sunday.The 39-year-old Fox beat out American Cameron Young to win his first career major title, becoming only the third New Zealander to win a men’s major golf championship.Fox came into the final hole tied with Young, after the 29-year-old finished the round at 6-under 64 a few hours before.The Kiwi powered his drive into the middle of the fairway and then set up the biggest putt of his golf career so far with an approach shot that landed about 12 feet from the pin.As the putt fell into the hole, the crowd in Southport, England, gave Fox a rousing ovation as he raised both arms in the air to celebrate the achievement.The putt capped off four birdies in the last six holes for Fox.Fox was at a loss for words while speaking to the NBC Sports broadcast after the win.“I don’t really know what to think at the moment. I’ve got a lot of people to thank. First of all, my family. My wife and kids are in Florida at the moment. I spoke to my kids last night and they said, bring back a trophy. I think that’s a pretty cool one to bring back for them,” Fox said. “My family back in New Zealand and all my supporters back there. I know it’s been a long night for them, but I’m glad it was worthwhile.”Fox finished with a 2-under 68 after trailing Sam Burns, who held a two-stroke lead coming into Sunday’s final round.Fox also becomes the third-oldest major winner in the last 10 years, trailing only Phil Mickelson at the 2021 PGA Championship and Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters.“Just an unbelievable week. The golf course was fantastic. The English weather was fantastic. You guys out there were fantastic. The support was amazing. This is pretty cool. I’m sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone, but thank you very much,” Fox added.It is another disappointment for Young, who is still looking for his first career major title despite winning The Players earlier this year. Young finished one shot back of the win at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews and held the lead heading into the final round at the Masters back in April.It is also another let down for Burns, another golfer looking for his maiden major win.The Louisiana State University alum came into the round ahead by two strokes but quickly lost it and went birdie-free for the final 12 holes.“(Fox) is a well-earned champion and hats off to him,” Burns said. “He did what he needed to do down the stretch and ultimately just came up a couple short today.”Defending champion Scottie Scheffler stayed within striking range throughout the round, but wound up with a 3-under 67 on Sunday to finish tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood.After a drama-filled tournament, Bryson DeChambeau finished tied for 14th while Rory McIlroy, who has been critical of the LIV Golfer all tournament long, ended tied for 40th.Fox’s journey to first major winFox’s road to his first career major title wasn’t the easiest. It came with many bumps and U-turns.While speaking to CNN’s Don Riddell ahead of the Desert Classic in Dubai in early 2025, Fox opened up about his mental health issues, including being an older rookie after spending years on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australia.“I think being a rookie at 37 years old on the PGA Tour was, I probably wasn’t quite prepared for what that was again,” Fox told CNN.“I knew all the golf courses, knew how to travel work, knew where to stay, and everything was new on the PGA Tour, and that was probably a shock to the system more than anything.”Fox comes from a lineage of athletes within his family tree, including his father, Grant Fox, who was a main kicker for the New Zealand national rugby team and his grandfather, Merv Wallace, a former New Zealand cricketer who later coached the national team.Fox spoke out on the “pressure” a golfer faces, mentioning the 2024 death of former PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray, whose parents later confirmed it was death by suicide.“It can be a stressful life. It’s all performance-based. There’s a lot of pressure on – Looking after your mental health is really, really important, and having people to talk to and all of that is part of that,” Fox said.“It’s a shame it got to that point with Grayson that, you know, we’ve had to have those, those pretty tough conversations now, but it will help – hopefully it helps someone else in a similar situation going forward because we certainly don’t want to see it again.”CNN’s Kyle Tatelbaum and Don Riddell contributed to this reporting This write has been updated with additional reporting The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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