Lyon snatch Champions League place

Lyon snatch Champions League place

Lyon clinched a place in next season's Champions League proper on Saturday after Lille slipped up on the final day of the Ligue 1 season.

Les Gones went into the last day in the Champions League qualifying spots and needed to beat Le Mans and hope Lille lost at Lorient to sneak second position.

And that is exactly what happened.

Goals from Bafetimbi Gomis and Miralem Pjanic were enough for Claude Puel's men to see off already-relegated Le Mans while Lille squandered a one-goal lead on their way to a costly defeat at Lorient.

Ricardo Costa gave the away side the edge after 32 minutes only for Kevin Gameiro to level matters five minutes later.

Yohan Cabaye missed a penalty for Lille just after half-time and Lorient then won it through substitute Yann Jouffre after 66 minutes.

To rub salt in the Lille wounds, Auxerre's last-gasp win at Sochaux meant they finished third, relegating Lille to fourth spot and a place in the Europa League.

Cedric Hengbart scored twice for Auxerre, the winner coming in the final minute, after Ideye Brown had cancelled out his early opener.

Sochaux's challenge faded with the 61st-minute dismissal of Damien Perquis.

Champions Marseille finished with a 2-0 win over Grenoble at the Stade Velodrome.

Mamadou Niang and Charles Kabore scored for the hosts in front of a crowd in celebratory mood.

Deposed champions Bordeaux will not play in European competition next season after finishing sixth.

Les Girondins lost 4-3 at Lens with Montpellier securing fifth - and a place in the Europa League - with a 3-1 victory at Paris St Germain.

Geoffrey Dernis scored twice for Montpellier to add to a strike from Lilian Compan. Mevlut Erdinc grabbed PSG's sole reply.

That win meant Bordeaux's result was irrelevant.

Nevertheless, they would have wanted to win for coach Laurent Blanc who is widely expected to leave the club this summer.

They got off to an awful start when Michael Ciani was sent off after six minutes and they soon found themselves 2-0 down after goals from Toifilou Maoulida and Samba Sow.

The 10 men responded with a Wendell penalty and an Henri Bedimo own goal dragging them level.

A Issam Jemaa spot-kick restored Lens' advantage and Maoulida made it 4-2.

Another Wendell penalty completed the scoring.

Youssouf Hadji scored and was later sent off as Nancy drew 1-1 with Valenciennes, already-relegated Boulogne overcame Rennes thanks to Gregory Thil's 19th-minute penalty, while Toulouse and Monaco drew 0-0.

Nice and St Etienne finished 1-1. Loic Remy scored early for Nice but Emmanuel Riviere equalised with 21 minutes to go.