A single point separates the top three teams in Ligue 1 after

Marseille climbed back to second with a hard-fought 1-0 home win over

plucky Evian on Saturday.

The victory was secured when Andre-Pierre Gignac converted a 49th

minute penalty, for his 14th goal of the season, after referee Frank

Schneider awarded Marseille a controversial spot-kick when Dimitri Payet

took a slight knock in the box.

Lyon are still top on 48 points ahead of their clash with resurgent

Monaco on Sunday, but Marseille are breathing down their necks on 47

points.

Paris Saint-Germain also have 47 points in third place.

Marseille lost their south coast derby at Nice last weekend and had been tipped to cruise past Evian at the Velodrome.

Although they were rampant at times, Evian’s work-rate stifled them for long periods.

Young French hope Florian Thauvin had a Marseille goal disallowed for

a harsh off-side decision against his strike partner Gignac while Payet

saw his sumptuous long-range shot sail inches over the bar. 

But the visitors were also denied what appeared to be a certain penalty early in the match.

“If I say anything about that I’ll end up before a disciplinary commission,” said Evian coach Pascal Dupraz.

On Friday, Ezequiel Lavezzi scored the only goal as champions Paris

Saint-Germain edged Rennes 1-0 rounding off a fabulous piece of teamwork

from the capital outfit.

The goal came on 29 minutes after a neat interchange of passes down

the left between Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was involved twice, Adrien

Rabiot and Javier Pastore.

This maintained their unbeaten Ligue 1 home record and more importantly cut the gap on Lyon to just one point.

The win was PSG’s sixth consecutive home win in all competitions

while stretching their Ligue 1 record at the Parc des Princes to eight

wins and three draws.

Sunday’s game at the Louis II stadium on the Cote d’Azur promises

fireworks with Lyon and Monaco, the two in-form teams in the top flight.

Lyon are riding a seven-match winning streak while Monaco haven’t

tasted defeat in seven games with both teams’ defences proving

especially frugal.

Monaco haven’t conceded a goal in some 700 minutes while Lyon have yet to leak a goal in 476, a run of over five matches.

The top two teams from France automatically qualify for the Champions

Leagaue while the third-placed team must negotiate qualifying, a hurdle

Lille failed to clear this season.