Fonte late header secures point to keep Lille top in France

PARIS (AP) - Captain Jose Fonte rescued a point for Lille with a thumping late header in a 1-1 home draw with Strasbourg on Sunday to ensure his side stays top of the French league.

Lille will remain one point clear of Lyon even if Lyon wins at Marseille later Sunday. Lille is two points ahead of defending champion Paris Saint-Germain.

Strasbourg stunned Lille when it took the lead through striker Ludovic Ajorque in the 35th minute, finishing powerfully from Frederic Guilbert's cross.

Both sides wasted chances before the 37-year-old Fonte rose at the back post to meet Benjamin Andre's pinpoint cross from the left.

Strasbourg did not come for a draw and almost scored a dramatic winner in the fifth minute of injury time, but Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan made a superb save to keep out striker Habib Diallo's low shot from 10 meters.

Earlier, substitute Stefan Jovetic and striker Kevin Volland hit late goals as fourth-place Monaco beat Brest 2-0 to stretch its unbeaten league run to 12 games and stay in the title chase.

Brest goalkeeper Gautier Larsonneur justified his recall by saving Wissam Ben Yedder's first-half penalty - Monaco's first failed penalty this season - and making a great save to stop central defender Guillermo Maripan's powerful header from a corner in the 74th minute.

But he was beaten one minute later when Jovetic advanced to the edge of the penalty area and let fly with a powerful shot into the bottom right corner.

Volland showed good timing to clip midfielder Aleksandr Golovin's low free kick over Larsonneur and inside the right post in the 89th.

Monaco is two points behind defending PSG, which routed rock-bottom Dijon 4-0 on Saturday.

OTHER MATCHES

Substitute Armand Lauriente scored two second-half goals as Lorient rallied to beat Saint-Etienne 2-1 and climb out of the relegation zone into 17th place.

Sixth-place Lens went 2-0 down inside 10 minutes away to midtable Angers but hit back to earn a 2-2 draw, with striker Arnaud Kalimuendo scoring an injury-time equalizer.

Also, it was Nimes 1, Nantes 1 and Reims 0, Montpellier 0.

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