PARIS: A Wissam Ben Yedder hat-trick put Monaco on the brink of securing a direct Champions League spot for next season as they stormed back to beat Stade Brest 4-2 at home for their ninth consecutive victory in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Monaco were trailing 2-0 at their Louis II stadium after 23 minutes but Ben Yedder reduced the arrears before the break and netted twice in four minutes early in the second half with Kevin Volland also on target to lift them up to second place on 68 points with one game left.

Olympique de Marseille slipped down to third, on goal difference, when they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Stade Rennes.

Benjamin Bourigeaud and Lovro Majer found the back of the net to send Rennes up to fourth place on 65 points a week before what looks like being a nailbiting finale.

The top two teams qualify directly for the Champions League group stage while the side who finish third take part in the third qualifying round.

Paris St Germain, who were already crowned champions last month, beat Montpellier 4-0 away courtesy of a Lionel Messi double with Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe scoring the others.

Nice’s hopes of playing in the Champions League were ended when they lost 3-1 at home to Lille, who prevailed with a Jonathan David double.

Nice are sixth on 63 points.

Racing Strasbourg took advantage of Nice slip up by beating basement side Clermont foot 1-0 to move up on the fifth place on the points table with 63 points.

In the final round of matches, Monaco travel to RC Lens, Rennes to Lille and Marseille host Strasbourg.

Bottom side Girondins de Bordeaux were left on the brink of relegation after a 0-0 draw against Lorient left them on 28 points, three points from a relegation/promotion play-off spot but with a much worse goal difference than 18th-placed Metz who won 1-0 against Angers.

St-Etienne also are on the verge of relegation after they lost 2-1 to Reims. St-Etienne were already on the defensive when Marshall Munetsi gave Reims the lead in the 2nd minute of the match, Eliaquim Mangala scored the equaliser 10 minutes later only to lose in the 61st minute when Kamory Doumbia scored the winner.

Lens moved to seventh, leapfrogging Lyon after their 3-1 victory against Troyes, thanks to goals by Kevin Danso, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Jonathon Clauss.

In Monaco, Jean-Kevin Duverne and Youcef Belaili stunned the hosts with two early goals but the principality side reacted just before the break when Ben Yedder converted a penalty after Belaili handled the ball in the area.

France forward Ben Yedder then equalised from inside the box six minutes into the second half before heading home to put Monaco ahead.

Ben Yedder also had a hand in Monaco’s fourth goal as his volley was parried into the path of Volland, who finished in clinical fashion to wrap up a spectacular win.

In Rennes, Bourigeaud put the hosts ahead on 12 minutes with a low cross shot from Martin Terrier’s cutback as Marseille struggled to sustain the pace.

Terrier then broke down the left flank and his cross was met by Lovro Majer who fired home in the 35th minute.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2022