体坛英语新闻：Marseille seize ninth French league title

PARIS, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Marseille clinched its ninth league title by beating Rennes 3-1 at home on Wednesday, moving within one of the French record.

Gabriel Heinze, Mamadou Niang and Lucho Gonzalez scored for Marseille, which only trails Saint-Etienne in French titles.

Heinze curled in a free kick in the third minute, but Rennes forward Jimmy Briand headed in a cross from Jerome Leroy to equalize in the 38th.

Niang tapped into an empty net in the 76th, and Gonzalez beat goalkeepeer Nicolas Douchez from the edge of the area one minute later.

Marseille tops the standings with an unbeatable 75 points, eight more than Lille and Auxerre. Lyon is fourth with 65 points. There are two rounds remaining.

Also Wednesday, it was: Lyon 2, Auxerre 1; Toulouse 0, Lille 2; Nice 1, Bordeaux 1; Sochaux 0, Montpellier 1; Lorient 2, Monaco 2; Paris Saint-Germain 2, Valenciennes 2; Nancy 3, Le Mans 2; Lens 1, Grenoble 1 and Boulogne 0, Saint-Etienne 1.

Saint-Etienne secured safety while Le Mans and Boulogne were relegated to the second division.