French Ligue 1: Marseille beat Nantes to extend lead at the top

Marseille stretched their advantage over Paris St Germain at the top of the Ligue 1 standings to four points thanks to a 2-0 win over Nantes on Friday.

Florian Thauvin opened the scoring in the 24th minute for L'OM before Rod Fanni added the second five minutes before the break.

Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda made two good saves in the second half to keep a clean sheet to help put OM clear, with PSG set to play Nice on Saturday.

Mandanda was quickly into the action when he denied Remi Gomis in the eighth minute before Thauvin saw his 30-yard strike blocked by Remy Riou at the other end.

However, the Marseille midfielder only had to wait another four minutes to break the deadlock after Dimitri Payet broke down the right and sent in a good cross under pressure. Thauvin was waiting at the near post to put the ball in the back of the net with a scissor kick.

Fanni added the second for the home side in the 40th minute, with Thauvin this time turning provider from a free-kick just outside the area, as he was on hand at the near post to beat Riou.

After the break, Riou denied Andre-Pierre Gignac's effort for Marseille before Nantes saw two good chances saved by Mandanda.

Firstly Jordan Veretout saw his strike turned away by the L'OM keeper in the 72nd minute before Yacine Bammou's low strike was saved.

Giannelli Imbula's shot brushed the post as Marseille went in search of another goal to kill off the game but it did not matter as the two first-half efforts were enough to claim maximum points.