European Football Sunday Round-up

French Ligue 1

Paris St Germain saw their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings slashed in half after they suffered a surprise 3-2 defeat at lowly Sochaux, while nearest challengers Lyon thrashed Bordeaux 4-0 away from home.

PSG had looked to have taken a stranglehold on the title race after a run of four successive victories saw them open a six-point gap at the summit going into this weekend's fixtures.

However, with new signing David Beckham's debut still on hold while he gains match fitness and the in-form Lucas Moura injured, Carlo Ancelotti's men came unstuck against relegation-battling Sochaux at the Stade Bonal.

Alex gave the league leaders a 29th-minute lead but Sochaux hit back soon after to level through Sebastian Roudet before Giovanni Sio put the home side ahead in the 54th minute.

An enthralling encounter looked to have swung back PSG's way when they equalised through Blaise Matuidi 14 minutes from time but, rather than the big-spending Parisians going on and finding a winner, it was Sochaux who snatched a deserved victory thanks to substitute Cedric Bakambu's goal six minutes from time.

Two goals by Clement Grenier saw Lyon keep up the pressure with an impressive victory at Bordeaux.

Goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Gueida Fofana, as well as Grenier's double, provided the visitors with their first four-goal victory at the Stade Chaban-Delmas since 1977.

Reims and St Etienne drew 1-1 in an entertaining encounter at the Stade Auguste Delaune.

The lively Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the visitors ahead early in the first half before Reims got a deserved equaliser through Gaetan Courtet with 15 minutes left.

Rod Fanni's 94th-minute goal kept Marseille's title challenge alive with a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Valenciennes at the Stade Velodrome.

Starting the weekend eight points adrift of leaders Paris St Germain, Marseille knew they could not afford another slip after a disappointing run of form since the winter break.

And just when it seemed they would be frustrated again, Fanni beat his man to fire a low shot into the goal and relieve the pressure.

Nice moved up to fourth with a narrow 1-0 win at Bastia.

Sixteen-year-old Neal Maupay scored the only goal of the game just after the hour mark as the visitors boosted their European hopes.

The winner came when Fabrice Abriel made ground and then crossing to the far post where Maupay diverted the ball home from close range.

Defeat was harsh on the Corsicans, who gave as good as they got and were denied by the bar in the second half, but it left them three points above the bottom three.

Toulouse scored twice in the final five minutes to snatch a 2-2 draw in a dramatic finish to their encounter with Troyes.

Goals from Eden Ben Basat and Etienne Didot, the latter an 88th-minute equaliser, stunned struggling Troyes, who had looked set to claim a much-needed win in a match they dominated.

The game burst into life with little more than 10 minutes remaining as the visitors finally got the breakthrough they deserved thanks to substitute Mohamed Yattara's 78th-minute opener.

Benjamin Nivet made it two five minutes later, but the team with the second worst defensive record in the French top flight could not hold on in the closing stages.

Brest ended a four-game losing streak and inched away from the relegation zone following a 1-1 draw with Ajaccio at the Stade Francis-Le Ble.

Florian Raspentino fired the hosts ahead early on but they were denied a first league home win since November by Dennis Oliech 20 minutes from the end.

With most of Brest's relegation rivals losing it was, however, a point gained for Landry Chauvin's men following their recent barren run.

A penalty from Jeremie Aliadiere and a Kevin Monnet-Paquet goal were enough to secure all three points for Lorient against Evian and keep the hosts on the fringes of European qualification in Ligue 1.

Betao scored a late consolation but it was not enough for the visitors, who lie one place above the relegation places in the table.

On Friday night, Lille boosted their hopes of a Europa League spot - and dented Rennes' European ambitions - with a hard-fought 2-0 victory at the Grand Stade Lille Metropole.

Nice defender Chris Mavinga put through his own net after 24 minutes to hand the hosts the initiative, with Dimitri Payet's goal just after the hour mark clinching the three points for LOSC.

Dutch Eredivisie

Ajax closed the gap on Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven to three points with a 2-0 win at RKC Waalwijk on Sunday as Feyenoord slipped further out of title contention.

Ajax had the points sewn up by half-time as Niklas Moisander put them ahead after 22 minutes and Christian Eriksen doubled the lead five minutes before the break.

Feyenoord went down to a shock 3-2 defeat at PEC Zwolle, who moved out of the bottom three.

A Graziano Pelle own goal after two minutes gave the hosts the perfect start and

Darryl Lachman added a second just five minutes later.

Pelle made amends by scoring twice in two minutes to bring the game level before the break, but Denni Avdic grabbed the winner for PEC with 15 minutes to go.

Defeat left the Rotterdammers in fourth place, six points off top spot.

Vitesse Arnhem beat FC Groningen 2-0 thanks to goals from Mike Havenaar (53) and Wilfried Bony (63) with a penalty.

Heerenveen defender Joey van den Berg had a day to forget as he scored an own goal and was sent off in the first half of his side's 2-1 loss at ADO Den Haag.

Van den Berg's 24th-minute own goal cancelled out Sven Kums' 13th-minute opener and ADO completed the comeback when Santi Kolk put them ahead in the 36th minute.

Van den Berg was dismissed a minute before the break and his side could not mount a second-half fightback.

On Saturday, ten-man PSV Eindhoven stretched their lead at the top of the Eredivisie table to six points with a comeback 2-1 win over FC Utrecht.

Jacob Mulenga fired in-form Utrecht into a 10th-minute lead but the leaders were on level terms again on the half-hour through Belgian forward Dries Mertens.

Georgino Wijnaldum sent PSV ahead on 65 minutes and despite Atiba Hutchinson's red card moments later, they held on.

FC Twente lost further ground as their recent woes continued with a 1-1 home draw against bottom team Willem II.

Coach Steve McClaren had admitted that his team desperately needed to arrest a poor run that has seen them fail to record a league win since the turn of the year.

But Ricardo Ippel's stoppage-time strike prevented them from doing that after Douglas had headed the opener from close range on 43 minutes.

A stunning Willy Overtoom goal was not enough for AZ Alkmaar as they drew 2-2 at struggling Roda JC.

Roda raced ahead in the first minute through Sanharib Malki but, after Jozy Altidore (34) equalised, Overtoom (51) produced a brilliant 25-yard free-kick to fire AZ ahead.

Their lead lasted just 13 minutes, though, as Frank Demouge ensured Roda inched two points clear of danger.

NAC Breda and Heracles Almelo shared a 1-1 draw after Rick Ten Voorde (56) cancelled out an 11th-minute opener from Everton.

VVV-Venlo boosted their hopes of survival with a 2-1 win at Europa League hopefuls NEC Nijmegen on Friday night.

Nick van der Velden had given the seventh-placed hosts a sixth-minute lead, but Uche Nwofor got the second-bottom visitors back on level terms just five minutes later.

NEC defender Nathaniel Will was then sent off in the 65th minute for a foul on Brian Linssen, and VVV took only seven minutes to capitalise on their man advantage as Linssen netted the winner.

The home team pushed for an equaliser but it was VVV who looked the more dangerous and the more likely to add to the scoring on the counter-attack, with Linssen and substitute Ricky van Haaren both denied by the woodwork in the closing stages.

Portuguese Liga

Benfica needed a penalty deep in stoppage time to seal a 1-0 win over Academica that keeps them level-pegging with Porto at the top of the Liga standings.

The hosts dominated possession but could not convert their superiority into goals until four minutes into injury time when Nicolas Gaitan was fouled in the area and Rodrigo Lima stepped up to fire home the resulting penalty.

There was still time for more late drama as Helder Cabral saw red.

Third-placed Pacos Ferreira slipped 14 points off the leading duo as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Nacional.

Semedo Cicero fired Pacos in front on 22 minutes but Bruno Moreira levelled 12 minutes from the end.

Sami and David Simao scored in the first half to lift Maritimo to a 2-1 win over Estoril, who replied through Evandro Goebel just before the hour.

Both teams ended with 10 men as Maritimo's Suk Hyun-jun and Yohan Tavares of Estoril picked up second bookings after the break.

Leonel Olimpio's eighth-minute penalty saw Guimaraes to a 1-0 win over bottom side Moreirense, while Vitoria Setubal were victors by the same scoreline at Olhanense, Paulo Tavares with the only goal after 81 minutes.

Greek Superleague

Olympiacos extended their lead at the top of the Greek Superleague to 16 points tonight with a 2-0 win at FC Xanthi.

The Piraeus giants went ahead through Portuguese midfielder Paulo Machado on the half-hour mark and Rafik Djebbour sealed the win midway through the second period.

Asteras Tripoli moved into second with a 2-1 win at struggling Veria thanks to Laszlo Lencse's last-minute winner.

Ruben Rayo put Asteras ahead after 43 minutes but Alves Orestes equalised for Veria with 15 minutes to go.

Levadiakos and Atromitos drew 0-0 while Panathinaikos' miserable season continued with a 1-0 defeat at Aris Salonika for whom Nuno Coelho scored in the 89th minute.

Turkish Super Lig

Fenerbahce moved back to within six points of Super Lig leaders Galatasaray today with an impressive 3-0 win at Trabzonspor.

The visitors never looked back after being given a helping hand by the hosts' Sol Bamba, who put through his own goal in the 11th minute.

Cristian Baroni doubled Fener's advantage 15 minutes later and Gokhan Gonul completed the rout seven minutes into the second half.

Bursaspor moved up to fourth with a 1-0 win over Elazigspor courtesy of Pablo Batalla's goal while Genclerbirligi saw off struggling Mesrin Idmanyurdu 3-1.

Bjorn Vleminckx, Jimmy Durmaz and Ermin Zec put Gencler in control with a late Juan Culio penalty scant consolation for the visitors, who remain second bottom.

Today's other game, between Orduspor and Istanbul Buyuksehir BSK, finished 2-2.

Xavier Umbides and Ayiila Yussuf twice put the hosts ahead but Istanbul responded with levellers from Edin Visca and substitute Omer Can Sokullu.

Belgian Jupiler Pro League

Genk reclaimed third spot in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League with a 2-0 home win over KV Kortrijk.

Jeroen Simaeys (13 minutes) and Glynor Plet (68) netted the goals as Genk moved back above Standard Liege, who beat Cercle Brugge yesterday.

In today's other fixture, fifth-placed Lokeren's winless run stretched to four matches after they drew 1-1 at home with sixth-placed Club Brugge. Victor Vazquez put the visitors ahead in the ninth minute but Milos Maric drew Lokeren level 11 minutes later.