Marseille drops points in race for Champions League place

PARIS (AP) — Marseille missed the creativity of Dimitri Payet as it dropped points in the race for a Champions League place after being held 0-0 at home by Angers on Saturday in a dull French league encounter.

With Payet sidelined, Marseille’s attack failed to function. Substitute Saïf-Eddine Khaoui had the home side’s first shot on target in the 77th minute, but his tame effort went straight at goalkeeper Ludovic Butelle.

In a scrappy first half, a resolute Angers side came closest to scoring in the 21st when striker Sada Thioub’s deflected curler from 20 meters (yards) just missed the target.

Although second-place Marseille extended its overall unbeaten run to 12 games, it missed the chance to extend its lead over third-place Rennes, which drew 1-1 at Nice on Friday and is five points behind Marseille.

Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain can move 10 points clear of Marseille at the top on Sunday if it wins at Lille, which beat PSG 5-1 at home last season.

Later Saturday, Montpellier was looking to move up to fourth place with a home win against struggling Dijon and Monaco hosted Strasbourg.