Europen Football Friday Round-up

French Ligue 1

Montpellier moved to within two points of third place in the congested battle for Europe as they beat Rennes 2-0 to record their eighth consecutive home win in Ligue 1.

The in-form La Paillade moved level on points with St Etienne in fifth place thanks to two late second-half goals from Vitorino Hilton and Souleymane Camara.

With just one win in seven, defeat for Rennes meant they could find themselves as low as ninth in the Ligue 1 table come Sunday evening.

Dutch Eredivisie

Vitesse Arnhem moved up to third in the Eredivisie with a 2-0 defeat of FC Utrecht.

Mike Havenaar gave the home side the lead in the 15th minute and Wilfried Bony doubled their advantage 11 minutes into the second half when he sprung the offside trap and beat goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter with a low shot into the corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Vitesse are now two points behind pacesetters PSV Eindhoven having played a game more, while Utrecht remain sixth.

Danish Superliga

Aalborg twice let a lead slip as they fell to a 3-2 away defeat at Silkeborg in their first match since the winter break.

The visitors had the chance to go level on points with second-league FC Nordsjaelland with victory but despite taking the lead with goals early in either half, they ended up heading home empty-handed.

Kasper Pedersen's third-minute opener was cancelled out by Jesper Bech in the 17th minute, while Kasper Risgaard scored in the 69th minute to level it once more after Patrick Kristensen, a half-time substitute, restored Aalborg's lead in the 49th minute.

Marvin Pourie then bagged the winner 16 minutes from time.

The win lifts Silkeborg out of the relegation zone, at least until 11th-placed Esbjerg play AGF on Monday.

Turkish Super Lig

Genclerbirligi and Istanbul Buyuksehir played out a goalless draw in the Super Lig. Mid-table hosts Genclerbirligi lost Ermin Zec to a 89th-minute red card but there was not enough time left for fifth-bottom Buyuksehir to take advantage.