European Football Saturday Round-up

French Ligue 1

Marseille missed the chance to move a point behind Ligue 1 leaders Lyon as Romain Alessandrini's late equaliser for Rennes meant they had to settle for a 2-2 draw on Saturday night.

Marseille were heading for victory after Jordan Ayew volleyed home with seven minutes to go, however Rennes were not finished and Alessandrini tapped home a simple goal two minutes from the end after goalkeeper Steve Mandanda parried the ball into his path.

Earlier in the game, Andre Ayew put Marseille into a 37th-minute 1-0 lead, and Kevin Theophile-Catherine levelled for Rennes after 59 minutes.

Marseille midfielder Joey Barton wrote on Twitter: "Absolutely gutted. Feels like we've lost today. Should of [sic] been a well deserved 3pts."

Marseille stay third in the table, now level on points with Paris St Germain who will have the chance to join front-runners Lyon on 45 points when they play Lille on Sunday.

Rennes, meanwhile, remain fourth, six points behind Marseille and PSG.

Montpellier moved into seventh place with a 2-0 win over Sochaux thanks to goals by Emanuel Herrera, in the 28th minute, and John Utaka, who netted six minutes later.

At the other end of the table, Nancy won in the league for only the second time this season when they beat Lorient 2-1.

Paul Alo'o Efoulou opened the scoring for the league's bottom side nine minutes before half-time. Although Jeremie Aliadiere equalised five minutes after the break, Nancy were not to be denied and Sebastien Puygrenier hit the winner after 71 minutes.

It was Nancy's second win this week after they defeated Nice in the Coupe de France in midweek, however they still prop up the table after second-bottom Troyes beat Brest 2-1.

Fabien Camus and Stephane Darbion scored after 44 and 54 minutes respectively to give hosts Troyes a two-goal lead, and although Eden Ben Basat pulled one back in the 61st minute Troyes held on for their third league victory of the season.

Third-bottom Reims drew 1-1 with Toulouse. Etienne Capoue put Toulouse ahead after 56 minutes with Grzegorz Krychowiak levelling with a little over quarter of an hour remaining.

Evian, fourth from bottom, were matched 1-1 by Ajaccio. Dennis Oliech put Ajaccio ahead after 36 minutes before Daniel Wass levelled for the hosts in the 53rd minute.

Dutch Eredivisie

PSV Eindhoven returned to the top of the Eredivisie with a 5-1 mauling of Heracles.

First-half goals from Tim Matavz and Jeremain Lens set PSV on their way as the Eindhoven club sought to bounce back from last week's shock 3-1 home loss to Zwolle.

Heracles halved the deficit just after the hour-mark through Everton but that just served to spark PSV back into life as they responded with three goals in quick succession.

Georgino Wijnaldum made it 3-1 in the 66th minute, Dries Mertens added a fourth in the 72nd minute and then Wijnaldum completed the scoring with his second four minutes later.

PSV are now two points clear of second-placed FC Twente, who are away to fourth-placed Feyenoord on Sunday.

Seventh-placed ADO Den Haag will be disappointed not to have taken three points from the visit of relegation-battling Roda JC as they twice led and boasted a man advantage for almost the entire second half only to have to settle for a 2-2 draw.

Mike van Duinen put draw specialists ADO ahead in the 14th minute but they were pegged back through Mikolaj Lebedynski's equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

Roda were then reduced to 10 men four minutes after the break when Sanharib Malki was given his marching orders, and ADO looked to have made their extra man count when Danny Holla slotted home a 78th-minute penalty.

However, ADO lost their numerical advantage and their lead with three minutes to go when Vito Wormgoor was sent off for hand ball inside the area, conceding a penalty in the process.

ADO goalkeeper Gino Coutinho managed to turn Mark-Jan Fledderus' spot-kick onto the post, but the rebound was slotted home by the Roda midfielder to leave the home side with their 10th draw in 20 Eredivisie matches this season.

Elsewhere, Zwolle were almost brought crashing back to earth following their PSV upset as they trailed 1-0 at home to Heerenveen heading into the final six minutes, but substitute Denni Avdic cancelled out Alfred Finnbogason's 46th-minute opener to salvage a draw.

NAC Breda, meanwhile, beat RKC Waalwijk 4-0 away with Danny Verbeek (56 minutes), Jordy Buijs (58), Alex Schalk (80) and Eric Botteghin (90) the men on the scoresheet.

Turkish Super Lig

Fenerbahce climbed into second place in the Turkish Super Lig after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Gaziantepspor.

Darvydas Sernas' 42nd-minute goal handed the hosts the lead but Fener made sure of the points as Moussa Sow (65) and Semih Senturk (83) netted after the break.

Fenerbahce now have 31 points, two behind Galatasary and level with Besiktas, who drop to third and visit the league leaders on Sunday.

Bursaspor missed the chance to go fourth after a 4-1 loss at Istanbul Buyuksehir BSK.

The hosts dominated the match, with Francisco Lima Madureira (19), Samuel Holmen (30), Ekrem Eksioglu (58) and Edin Visca (75) on the scoresheet.

Pablo Batalla hit Bursaspor's consolation in the 83rd minute.

In the day's other game, Ante Kulusic's 20th-minute effort lifted Genclerbirligi to a 1-0 win over bottom side Akhisar Belediye.

Portuguese Primeira Liga

Benfica nudged three points ahead of Porto in their two-team race for Portugal's Liga title after winning 2-1 at Braga on Saturday night.

With Porto not in action until Monday, when they play Gil Vicente, Benfica set the standard for their rivals by beating the third-placed team in the top division.

Benfica went ahead when Eduardo Salvio netted after five minutes, and once Lima doubled the lead in the 35th minute it looked to be comfortable for the Lisbon-based side.

It became distinctly less so when Braga halved their deficit in the 77th minute, but the home side's hopes of an equaliser were diminished by the dismissal of defender Maximilian Haas eight minutes later.

Benfica and Porto both remain unbeaten, with Benfica boasting 13 wins and three draws so far and Porto's record showing 12 wins and three draws.

Braga remain 10 points behind Porto, and now 13 adrift of Benfica.

Greek Superleague

AEK Athens continued their bid to escape from the Superleague relegation zone with a comeback win over OFI Crete.

Visitors OFI took a 40th-minute lead through Dennis Souza but AEK drew level 11 minutes into the second half thanks to Antonis Petropoulos before substitute Michalis Pavlis struck an 80th-minute winner for the hosts.

The victory means AEK, 11-time Greek champions, have now taken seven points from their last three matches and are up to 12th in the 16-team league, three points above the bottom two.

There was also an 80th-minute winner and a 2-1 home win in Saturday's other Superleague game, with Panionios emerging victorious to beat Levadiakos and close to within two points of their fifth-placed opponents.

Fanouris Goundoulakis struck the deciding goal after Levadiakos striker Stelios Vasiliou's 42nd-minute equaliser had cancelled out Andreas Samaris' opener for Panionios.

Scottish Premier League

Richard Brittain scored an 82nd-minute equaliser as Ross County drew 1-1 at Dundee United on Saturday.

The midfielder's strike cancelled out Gary Mackay-Steven's 52nd-minute opener for Peter Houston's home side.

Ross are clear of second-bottom St Mirren by a point as a result, while Dundee United are outside the top six on goal difference.

Belgian Jupiler League

Tom De Sutter sent Anderlecht on their way to a victory at Lokeren that preserved their eight-point lead at the top of the Pro League.

De Sutter scored in the 50th minute and substitute Oleksandr Yakovenko put the finishing touches to the victory right at the death to give Anderlecht a 2-0 away success.

Lokeren remain third in the table, but now trail second-placed Zulte-Waregem by four points.

Zulte-Waregem were comfortable 2-0 winners over Lierse, who slipped a place to 15th in the 16-team league.

Karel D'Haene put Zulte-Waregem on their way with a 28th-minute opener, and their second goal arrived after 52 minutes with Franck Berrier the scorer.

Beerschot nudged ahead of Lierse after a goalless draw at home against Mons.

With the race for top-six places warming up, Genk, who currently occupy sixth place, fell to a 2-1 defeat against pursuers KV Mechelen.

Mechelen, who climbed to seventh place with their win, four points behind Genk, went ahead through Nicklas Pedersen in the 54th minute. Veteran Thomas Buffel hauled Genk level in the 84th minute, but Mechelen's Abdul-Yakuni Iddi provided a 90th-minute winner.

In lower mid-table, Waasland-Beveren withstood the dismissal of Siebe Blondelle to post a 2-0 home win over OH Leuven.

Blondelle was ordered off in the 56th minute, but Barak Badash made the breakthrough for the hosts after 73 minutes and Stijn De Smet doubled the lead 10 minutes later.