Marseille beats Lens to join Ligue 1 title race and Monaco keeps rare clean sheet

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PARIS (AP) — Loan signing Ethan Nwaneri scored a fine goal early into his club debut as Marseille beat Lens 3-1 to creep tentatively back into the Ligue 1 title race on Saturday.

Marseille’s victory ended Lens' 10-game winning streak in all competitions and stopped the northern side from reclaiming top spot from Paris Saint-Germain.

Third-placed Marseille moved five points behind Lens and remained seven behind PSG before their clash at Parc des Princes on Feb. 8.

A day after joining on loan from Premier League leader Arsenal, the 18-year-old Nwaneri took just 13 minutes to score. The way the winger took the goal validated Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi's decision to put him straight into the starting lineup.

Collecting the ball in midfield, Nwaneri drifted effortlessly past a player by cutting inside to the left, and then calmly curled a pinpoint shot from 20 meters into the bottom corner.

The highly rated Nwaneri became the youngest player in Premier League history at 15 years, 181 days when making his debut for Arsenal in September 2022. Last season, he scored nine goals for The Gunners in 37 games overall.

His goal made it 2-0 at a vibrant Stade Velodrome after Amine Gouiri netted in the third minute, swapping passes with Brazilian Igor Paixão before clipping the ball over the goalkeeper’s head.

United States winger Tim Weah set up Gouiri's second goal of the game with a first-time cross from the right in the 75th as Marseille's league-high goal tally reached 44 in 19 games.

Rayan Fofana pulled a late goal back but France winger Florian Thauvin was ineffective for Lens against the club where he scored 86 goals across two spells.

Monaco kept a rare clean sheet but could not score in a 0-0 draw at Le Havre.

Mid-table Monaco leaked goals in losing seven of the past eight league games, and was hammered 6-1 at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. The club's Ultras have stopped encouraging the players during games and want chief executive Thiago Scuro to leave amid reported concerns over last summer's transfer deals and physical preparation.

The performance was more disciplined this time but Monaco's injury problems mounted.

Central defender Wout Faes, who only just joined on loan from Leicester as cover for Mohammed Salisu, limped off with a left ankle injury in the 29th minute. He was replaced by former Tottenham and Bayern Munich defender Eric Dier, who was injured and replaced by Jordan Teze in the 70th.

Lorient followed up last Friday's 3-1 win at Monaco with a 2-0 victory at Rennes in the Brittany derby.

Midfielder Jean-Victor Makengo scored after three minutes with a low shot and striker Pablo Pagis wrapped things up with a close-range finish approaching the end.

PSG needed a late goal to scrape a 1-0 win at struggler Auxerre on Friday.

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