Marseille loses 1-0 and drops points in Europa League chase

<p>PARIS &mdash; Marseille dropped crucial points in the race for fifth place and a Europa League spot when it lost 1-0 at Saint-Etienne on Sunday.</p>
<p>Rennes could move above Marseille and into fifth with a home win against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain in a later game. PSG needed to win to stay one point behind leader Lille in a tense title race.</p>
<p>Midtable Saint-Etienne’s goal came in the 43rd minute when Arnaud Nordin turned in Wahbi Khazri’s cross from the left at the back post.</p>
<p>After Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda had prevented further goals, the visitors almost equalized when substitute Dario Benedetto’s late header was saved.</p>
<p>Monaco had to win at Reims later Sunday to reclaim third position from Lyon and the Champions League spot.</p>
<p>PSG was without suspended top scorer Kylian Mbappe and midfielder Marco Verratti through injury, but Rennes was missing its France midfielders Eduardo Camavinga and Steven Nzonzi.</p>
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<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ligue-1-lille-europe-soccer-sports-a101b460d64c14748de23230001ad385">Lille won 3-0 at Lens</a> on Friday.</p>
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