Lille v Nice
Yilmaz and Celik strike as Lille stay on title track
Lille stayed firmly on track for a first Ligue 1 title since 2011 when goals by Burak Yilmaz and Mehmet Zeki Celik sent them back to the top of the table with a 2-0 home win against 10-man Nice on Saturday.
Turkey internationals Yilmaz and Celik put Christophe Galtier's team on 76 points with three games left after champions Paris Saint-Germain briefly topped the standings with a 2-1 home win against Lens earlier on Saturday.
Lille lead PSG by one point and third-placed AS Monaco, who host fourth-placed Lyon on Sunday, by five.
Nice, who had Jordan Lotomba sent off three minutes into the second half, are ninth on 46 points.
Lille got off to a fine start with Yilmaz breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute, firing home a low shot from 18 metres after collecting a pass from Jonathan David.
Nice, who failed to muster a single attempt throughout the game, went down to 10 men when Lotomba picked up a second yellow card for a rough challenge on Jonathan Bamba and with him went their hopes of a comeback.
Celik added a second for Lille in the 56th minute with a superb volley from outside the area before another Yilmaz strike crashed against the post eight minutes later.
Lille next face fifth-placed arch-rivals RC Lens away while PSG travel to Stade Rennes.
Game Information
French Ligue 1 Standings
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Saint-Germain | 33 | 24 | 4 | 5 | +46 | 76 |
| Lens | 33 | 21 | 4 | 8 | +27 | 67 |
| Lille | 33 | 18 | 7 | 8 | +17 | 61 |
| Lyon | 33 | 18 | 6 | 9 | +17 | 60 |
| Stade Rennais | 33 | 17 | 8 | 8 | +11 | 59 |
| Marseille | 33 | 17 | 5 | 11 | +16 | 56 |
| AS Monaco | 33 | 16 | 6 | 11 | +7 | 54 |
| Strasbourg | 33 | 14 | 8 | 11 | +10 | 50 |
| Lorient | 33 | 11 | 12 | 10 | -1 | 45 |
| Toulouse | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | +1 | 44 |
| Paris FC | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | -4 | 41 |
| Brest | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | -12 | 38 |
| Angers | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 | -19 | 35 |
| Le Havre AC | 33 | 6 | 14 | 13 | -14 | 32 |
| AJ Auxerre | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | -12 | 31 |
| Nice | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | -23 | 31 |
| Nantes | 33 | 5 | 8 | 20 | -23 | 23 |
| Metz | 33 | 3 | 7 | 23 | -44 | 16 |

