Lille and Monaco kept the pressure on high-flying Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday as both won their Ligue 1 matches to keep pace with the champions.
A second-half Ronny Rodelin goal lifted Lille to a 1-0 success at Valenciennes after Monaco had earlier claimed a 2-0 win over Rennes at their Louis II stadium.
Lille are now just one point behind PSG, who host Lyon at the Parc des Princes on Sunday, with Monaco a further point adrift.
Lille did well to hold third-from-bottom Valenciennes at bay as the northeners played with 10 men following the sending off of Franck Beria after the break.
“It wasn’t easy, I think we went through every type of emotion,” said Lille coach Rene Girard.
The northeners have now gone 10 league matches without defeat while Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama has not conceded a goal in 945 minutes of action.
He is closing in on the Ligue 1 record of 1,176 minutes held by Gaetan Huard during the 1992-93 season with Bordeaux.
“Ten matches in a row without conceding a goal, that’s a first in my career,” added Girard.
“It shows the character of this team.”
Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez gave the perfect answer to recent criticism from Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri with a brilliant 19th minute free-kick before Anthony Martial guaranteed a ninth win in 15 matches just before half-time.
The team were also playing without injured top scorer Radamel Falcao as the Colombian continues to struggle with a thigh problem.
“I’m very satisfied,” said Ranieri.
“The team were very focused. With three matches in a week, it’s important to know how to keep the ball and not to play too fast when you’re leading 2-0.
“Our aim is to qualify for the Champions League but if Paris lose their rhythm I want Monaco to be just behind.”
Earlier on Saturday, Saint-Etienne took temporary possession of fifth spot with a 4-0 rout of Reims at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium.
Mustapha Bayal Sall scored the first of four goals in 26 second half minutes when he broke the deadlock to set the home side on their way.
Captain and defender Loic Perrin then scored twice in quick succession with Saint-Etienne’s second goal on 76 minutes and their third 120 seconds later.
Frenchman Fabien Lemoine then capped a fine afternoon’s work with the final strike with two minutes remaining.
“It was a great afternoon,” said Perrin.
“This victory does us good after our last win at Nice. For me to score twice is always pleasing, especially for a defender, but of course the main thing is the result,” he added.
The victory follows their controversial 1-0 win at Nice last Sunday which was marred by crowd violence and led to a ban on their away supporters until the end of the calendar year.
A Wissam Ben Yedder hat-trick inspired Toulouse to a 5-1 rout over tailenders Sochaux.
Elsewhere Guingamp won 1-0 at home against Brittany rivals Nantes as Lorient followed on last week’s 4-0 thrashing of Evian with a 3-0 win over Nice.
On Friday, Marseille beat 2012 champions Montpellier 2-0 to remain in Champions League qualification contention.
Goals from Florian Thauvin and Saber Khelifa gave Marseille a third straight win that kept them in fourth.
It was a welcome boost for Elie Baup’s team, who were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday, ahead of their trip to second-placed Lille this coming Tuesday.
“It’s a historic match because it’s Marseille’s 1,000th victory in the league,” said Baup.
“But most of all it was important to win the three points, that’s three wins in a row now.”
Germany
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola admitted the European champions were just happy to see off Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 and extend their record Bundesliga run ahead of a busy December.
Bayern’s victory at Munich’s Allianz Arena was down to Dutch winger Arjen Robben’s first-half brace as the Bavarians ran out of steam in the second-half.
The three points extended Bayern’s record unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to 39 matches and came just four days after they set the record of 10 consecutive Champions League victories by beating CSKA Moscow in Russia.
“It’s one game more and we won,” said Guardiola.
“We dominated possession and, in the first half, we were very strong mentally after (last Saturday’s 3-0 win at) Dortmund and the trip to Moscow.
“In the second half we didn’t manage to bring (striker) Mario Mandzukic into the game, but at the end, I am happy with the performance.”
But Bayern were lacklustre in the second-half against bottom side Braunschweig, who have never won in Munich.
“We are human beings and not machines,” said goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, while midfielder Toni Kroos added: “sometimes it’s okay if you just win the game.”
Having played in sub-zero temperatures in Moscow on Wednesday, match-winner Robben was just glad to play on a normal pitch after wet snow had made conditions tough on CSKA’s heavy pitch.
“That was a hard game in Moscow, including the travel,” said the 29-year-old.
“When you come back here and play on a good pitch, it’s simply fun.”
Bayern host Bavarian neighbours Augsburg in the third round of the German Cup on Wednesday, then travel to Werder Bremen in the league on Saturday before hosting Manchester City in the Champions League on December 10.
After hosting Hamburg, Bayern then travel to Morocco for the Club World Cup in a bid to win their second piece of silverware under Guardiola, having won the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea in August.
Borussia Dortmund picked up their first victory in three league games with a hard-fought 3-1 win at ten-man Mainz 05 to stay third behind second-placed Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern.
Borussia, who must win in Marseille in a fortnight to reach the last 16 of the Champions League, can reclaim second place in the Bundesliga if they beat Leverkusen in Dortmund next Saturday.
Dortmund took the lead on 70 minutes in Mainz when Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired home a superb free-kick, only for Cameroon’s Eric Choupo-Moting to equalise with a penalty four minutes later.
Mainz were reduced to 10 men when Colombia’s Elkin Soto was sent off for using his hand to stop the ball going into the net and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski fired home the first of two penalties.
“You have to evaluate the win in the context of our situation,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp, who lost his entire back four ten days ago through injury.
“We showed a very, very good fighting spirit.
“The fact that in certain situations our opponents had their chances to win the game says everything about Mainz’s class.”
Italy
Panagiotis Kone scored 10 minutes in and Antonio Cassano levelled with a first-half goal as Parma and Bologna drew 1-1.
Genoa needed an equaliser at home as well after Torino went ahead seven minutes in a 1-1 draw. Omar El Kaddouri struck for Torino early before Davide Biondini brought Genoa back even with a 69th-minute goal.
Portugal
Porto gave room to Lisbon in the Portuguese Liga title race with a 1-0 shock defeat to Academica de Coimbra, who had been just 12th on the table.
Lisbon trail Porto by a point for the top of the table with a game in hand.
