European Football Saturday Round-up

French Ligue 1

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was on the top of his game on Saturday night as he scored twice to help Paris St Germain overturn a one-goal deficit and beat lowly Nancy 2-1 at the Parc des Princes.

David Beckham had to make do with a cameo substitute appearance as his Swedish club-mate stole the attention with two second-half goals in the space of three minutes, following Benjamin Moukandjo's first-half opener for the visitors.

Victory for PSG lifted them five points clear at the summit of Ligue 1, ahead of Sunday's clash between second-placed Lyon and third-placed Marseille, while a fourth league defeat in five for their opponents left them six points adrift of safety.

Lille came from behind to beat Valenciennes 3-1 at the Stade du Hainaut and extend their Ligue 1 winning streak to five matches.

Maor Melikson had given mid-table Valenciennes a first-half lead, but Rudi Garcia's men slipped into another gear after the break, with goals from Ronny Rodelin, Tulio de Melo and Benoit Pedretti earning the three points.

The latter pair stepped off Lille's bench to make the difference, with Valenciennes unable to summon a response as the visitors - now fifth - closed in on the top three.

Lower down the ladder, Evian responded to coach Pascal Dupraz's pre-match pleas with an emphatic 5-1 win over fellow strugglers Sochaux to move out of the relegation zone.

Dupraz had claimed that psychologically the game was "worth a thousand points", with Evian lying three points behind their opponents who occupied the last position above the drop zone.

By the time Cedric Barbosa and Saber Khelifa had scored twice apiece, Kevin Berigaud adding another to render Cedric Bakambu's 53rd-minute equaliser irrelevant, Evian had jumped two places to 16th and it was their shell-shocked opponents who were left residing in the bottom three.

Brest remained looking over their shoulder at the relegation places after losing 1-0 at home to Toulouse.

Landry Chauvin's side headed into the game five points above the drop zone and looking to build on last weekend's 1-1 draw with title-chasing Lyon.

But Adrien Rabiot's goal on the stroke of half-time at the Stade Francis-Le Ble - coupled with Evian's win - saw Brest's margin over the bottom three shrink to just two points. Toulouse, meanwhile, climbed to 11th.

It was a dramatic night in the lower reaches and a woeful display from Reims goalkeeper Kossi Agassa helped Troyes lift themselves off the foot of the table and drag the away side ever closer to the drop zone after a 4-2 win.

Goals from Corentin Jean and Julien Faussurier put the home two in front with an hour gone before a late scoring spree, including Jean's second and a late effort from Mohamed Yattare added to the excitement.

Nicolas de Preville and Odair Fortes were on target for the visitors, making it 2-1 and then 3-2.

Finally, Ajaccio moved clear of the danger zone as Ronald Zubar's second-half goal earned them a 1-0 victory over Lorient. The former Wolves defender lashed home a powerful shot in the 75th minute.

Dutch Eredivisie

Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven were on the end of a surprise defeat at Heerenveen on Saturday, opening the door for champions Ajax to replace them at the summit on Sunday.

A 2-1 reverse at the Abe Lenstra Stadion left PSV two points ahead of Ajax, who face PEC Zwolle at the Amsterdam ArenA on Sunday and could end the weekend as table-toppers.

Marten de Roon and Yassine El Ghanassy were both on target for Heerenveen in the first half, with Kevin Strootman mustering PSV's only response 16 minutes from time.

At the other end of the table, basement boys Willem II managed just their third win of the season at home to second-bottom VVV-Venlo.

Danny Gujit was the match winner when he scored the only goal in the 89th minute.

Ten-man Heracles Almelo also won by a 1-0 scoreline, Everton netting in the 58th minute to sink NEC Nijmegen. The hosts held on for the final 23 minutes a man down following Thomas Bruns' red card.

Finally, Viktor Elm's 25th-minute equaliser earned struggling AZ Alkmaar a 1-1 home draw against ADO Den Haag, who had taken a 10th-minute lead through Mike van Duinen.

Turkish Super Lig

Besiktas suffered a blow to their Super Lig title hopes as they could manage only a goalless draw away to Trabzonspor.

Five points behind Galatasaray at the start of play, after the leaders suffered a surprise defeat to Genclerbirligi on Friday night, there was an opportunity to make up most of that ground.

Instead Besiktas were defied by mid-table opponents and missed their big chance.

Akhisar Belediye, one place off the bottom of the table, let a 2-0 lead slip away as they were held 2-2 by Gaziantepspor.

Theofanis Gekas put the lowly visitors ahead after nine minutes and Bruno Mezenga doubled their lead in the 52nd minute.

But Gaziantepspor, themselves struggling just outside the relegation zone, pulled one goal back through substitute Abdou Razack Traore in the 79th minute and two minutes later Wilton Figueiredo came up with the equaliser.

Istanbul Buyuksehir are also hovering precariously above the bottom three, and like Gaziantepspor they are just two points clear after a goalless draw at home against Kayserispor, who nudged up a place to sixth in the 18-team league.

Portuguese Primeira Liga

Braga climbed to third in the Portuguese Liga on Saturday evening thanks to a 2-0 home win over sixth-placed Maritimo.

Hugo Viana opened the scoring four minutes before half-time and Alan clinched the points on the stroke of full-time to lift Braga two points ahead of Pacos Ferreira.

Also on Saturday, Ricky van Wolfswinkel's 78th-minute equaliser earned Sporting Lisbon a 1-1 draw at Academica, cancelling out Wilson Eduardo's 26th-minute penalty.

The result kept 10th-spotted Sporting three positions and two points better off than their hosts.

Greek Superleague

Asteras Tripoli and PAOK Salonika kept the Greek Superleague title race mathematically alive with wins on Saturday but leaders Olympiacos will seal a 40th league crown if they beat AEK Athens on Sunday.

Substitute Ruben Rayo netted a last-gasp winner to earn Asteras a 1-0 home triumph over struggling Panthrakikos, while Dimitris Salpingidis' first-half double - scoring either side of Charles Itandje's own goal - secured 10-man PAOK a 2-1 success at Platanias despite the 46th-minute dismissal of Konstantinos Stafylidis.

The results left second-placed Asteras 13 points behind the pace-setters and PAOK a further point adrift in third with five games left, meaning Olympiacos can make sure of the title with victory on Sunday.

Elsewhere on Saturday, a 79th-minute penalty from substitute Luciano Figueroa was enough to clinch a 1-0 home win for fifth-placed Panathinaikos against bottom club Kerkyra.

Belgian Jupiler Pro League

The make-up of the Jupiler Pro League's various play-off bands was confirmed on Saturday evening, as Koen Persoons' late equaliser against Charleroi confirmed Lokeren's top-six berth and Beerschot were condemned to the bottom two.

Lokeren were trailing to David Pollet's 63rd-minute strike, which would have kept alive Mons' hopes of snatching sixth after their win over Cercle Brugge, until Persoons netted a minute from the end to give his side a four-point cushion with one match remaining before the 30-game split.

Mons were 3-1 victors at Jan Breydel Stadion, Mustapha Jarju and Aloys Nong adding to Gregory Mertens' own goal.

Substitute Joaquin Boghossian pulled a goal back for the bottom side, who will go into the five-game relegation play-off facing a three-point deficit to Beerschot.

The latter will finish the regular season 15th after they lost 3-2 to Waasland-Beveren and 14th-placed Lierse beat Kortrijk 1-0.

Benito Raman and Hernan Losada's goals for Beerschot were in vain as Barak Badash's penalty and goals from Jordan Remacle and Stijn de Smet gave their hosts victory.

Rachid Bourabia scored Lierse's goal before Kortrijk had Stefan Mitrovic sent off late on.

Anderlecht will finish the 30-game regular season at the top of the table after a 1-0 win over KV Mechelen, scured by Tom de Sutter's goal, coupled with second-placed Zulte-Waregem losing at home to Club Brugge.

Carlos Bacca and Eidur Gudjohnsen earned Der Club a 2-1 win, Olafur Ingi Skulason with the late reply for Zulte.

Third-placed Genk beat Gent 3-2. Thomas Buffel's opener was overhauled by Rodger Kola and Ilombe M'Boyo but Bennard Kumordzi equalised and Julien Gorius grabbed the winner.

Standard Liege shrugged off the dismissal of Jelle van Damme just after half-time to beat Leuven 4-0. Imoh Ezekiel and Michy Batshuayi struck in the first half and Laurent Ciman and Frederic Bulot added further goals after Van Damme's dismissal.

Swiss Super League

Leaders Grasshoppers pulled five points clear of Basel at the top of the Super League after seeing off a St Gallen team that finished with nine men.

St Gallen had Philippe Montadon and Stephane Belse sent off in the second half and Grasshoppers capitalised to clinch a 3-1 home victory.

The hosts seized the lead in the second minute, when Anat Ngamukol scored, but were hauled back to level terms when Kristian Nushi netted for St Gallen.

Vero Salatic restored Grasshoppers' lead after 56 minutes, and Montadon was the first player dismissed with 20 minutes remaining.

When Besle was also red-carded in the 88th minute, St Gallen's hopes of an equaliser were effectively vanquished, and substitute Shkelzen Gashi, on for Ngamukol, added the final goal late on.

Basel play mid-table Young Boys on Sunday, looking to move back to two points behind Grasshoppers.

Also on Saturday night, the league's bottom two sides Lucerne and Servette played out a 1-1 draw.

Home side Lucerne broke through when Philipp Muntwiler scored in the 26th minute, but an equaliser from Servette's Goran Karanovic arrived three minutes later.

Servette remain five points adrift at the foot of the table.