Marseille charge into Ligue 1 second place contention, Plea scores quadruple in Nice's win

PARIS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Marseille continued to put pressure on second-placed Monaco following a hard-fought 2-1 road victory over struggling Toulouse, while Alasanne Plea scored his maiden league quadruple to lift Nice past Guingamp 5-2 in the 29th round action of Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Substitute Kostas Mitroglou was the hero in Marseille's win, as the Greek forward hit target in the 78th minute on a cross from Dimitri Payet, who also came off the bench midway through the second half.

Lucas Ocampos broke the deadlock for Marseille from a close range in the 10th minute. Nine minutes later, Firmin Mubele beat Marseille defender Sakai Hiroki to convert Issiaga Sylla's cross into the net.

Toulouse could have built the lead into the halftime, but Yaya Sanogo's shot hit the cross bar in the 33rd minute.

32-year-old Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda made several world-class blocks after the break, and his Toulouse counterpart Alban Lafont, 19, had the same feat in making two saves in a row against opponents' shots.

Then two substitutes Payet and Mitroglou made a huge difference for Marseille, who trailed Monaco four points on third.

Clement Grenier put Guingamp ahead nine minutes into the match from a spot kick, but the hosts' advantage was cancelled by Plea's shot on a counter-attack in the 24th minute.

After seeing his header hit the post in the first half, Plea turned the table for Nice two minutes after the restart, and his hat-trick arrived before the hour mark.

Guingamp pulled one back on Nice defender Santos Marlon's own goal with seven minutes remaining, but their hope of tying the score faded away after substitute Bassem Srarfi headed home three minutes later. Plea scored his fourth goal of the match with a low shot through goalkeeper Kalle Johnsson's legs in injury time.

Also on Sunday, fourth-placed Lyon edged Caen 1-0 at home on Bertrand Traore's second-half goal, snapping a six-game winless streak in the league.

Lyon were five points off Marseille in contention for a Champions League berth with nine rounds remaining. Enditem