PARIS - Nice held top spot in France with a 3-0 win at home against Toulouse Sunday as Marseille claimed just a second victory in seven Ligue 1 matches by beating Nancy 3-0.
First half goals from Alassane Plea and Younes Belhanda set Nice on its way with Ivorian Jean Michael Seri rounding off with his ninth goal of the campaign on 65 minutes.
Nice has a three-point advantage on second-placed Monaco which whipped Bastia 5-0 Saturday with Paris Saint-Germain four points adrift of the leader after falling 3-0 at Montpellier.
Nice captain Dante admitted the win was a psychological boost ahead of next weekend’s clash with the champion at the Parc des Princes.
Toulouse, the only team to have beaten both Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain this campaign, remains stuck in eighth place.
Earlier Florian Thauvin struck just after half-time at the Stade Velodrome before fellow Premier League cast-offs Bafetimbi Gomis and Clinton Njie scored late goals after Benoit Pedretti was sent off for Nancy.
It was just a fifth win in 16 matches for Marseille this season as the fallen French giant climbed back into the top half of the table, 18 points behind leaders Nice.
Rennes moved up to fourth as second-half goals from Paul-Georges Ntep and Kamil Grosicki earned them a 2-0 win at home to Saint-Etienne.
Malaga piles pressure on Prandelli
In Madrid, Valencia’s winless streak extended to six La Liga games as Pablo Fornals struck deep into stoppage time to hand Malaga a deserved 2-2 draw at a discontented Mestalla Sunday.
Pablo Fornals had given the visitors the perfect start after just three minutes, but Valencia looked set for a much needed win as Rodrigo and Alvaro Medran turned the game around before half-time.
However, Valencia’s Italian boss Cesare Prandelli was faced with his first calls to go from the home fans to go after just seven games in charge when Fornals made Malaga’s late pressure count in the 93rd minute.
Valencia moves just two points clear of the relegation zone in 16th.
Earlier, Athletic Bilbao leapfrogged Eibar into seventh as it got the better of a Basque derby with a 3-1 win at San Mames.
Sporting Gijon won for the first time since September and left Osasuna rooted to the bottom in the process with a 3-1 win to move out of the relegation zone.
Alaves and Las Palmas remain safely planted in mid-table after a 1-1 draw.
Babacar lifts Fiorentina
In Milan, Senegal striker Khouma Babacar’s last-gap header secured a precious 2-1 win over Palermo Sunday as Fiorentina moved up to eighth place in Serie A and into contention for a place in Europe.
Fiorentina is two points ahead of Inter Milan and 13 adrift of leader Juventus, although Paulo Sousa’s men have a game in hand after a fixture at Genoa was rained off earlier this season.
Palermo’s eighth defeat on the trot dropped the Sicilians back to bottom spot after it had momentarily left the basement when Crotone suffered a 2-1 defeat to AC Milan.
