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Lille loses out on Champions League

Sat 15th, May 2010

Lorient, France (Sports Network) - Lille's bid to claim a spot in the Champions League came to a crashing halt on Saturday as the club suffered a 2-1 defeat at Lorient, leaving them one point short of qualifying for Europe's premier club competition.

Lille entered the final day in second place, needing a win to ensure themselves of the second spot, which carries with it an automatic berth in next year's Champions League.

However, their defeat, coupled with wins by both Lyon and Auxerre, drops Lille into fourth place, forcing them to settle for a place in the Europa League.

Things started well for the visitors as Ricardo Costa put them ahead in the 32nd minute, but his goal was canceled out four minutes later by Lorient's Kevin Gameiro.

Lille then had a great chance to restore its lead in the 48th minute when Lorient's goalkeeper, Fabien Audard, brought down Gervinho inside the penalty area.

But Yohan Cabaye's spot kick was saved by Audard, and Lille was punished 15 minutes later when Yann Jouffre scored from a tight angle.

Lyon moved into second place with a 2-0 win over relegated Le Mans as Bafetimbi Gomis scored late in the first half and Miralem Pjanic tallied the second goal in the 68th minute.

Auxerre needed to beat Sochaux and get help if they were going to finish in the top three, and with the game tied at 1-1 entering stoppage time, Cedric Hengbart found the back of the net for Auxerre, giving them an unlikely third- place finish.

Geoffrey Dernis scored two goals to help Montpellier cap a good season with a 3-1 win against PSG, while Bordeaux's struggles continued as they yielded two goals to Toifilou Maoulida in a 4-3 loss to Lens.

Relegated Boulogne went out with a 1-0 win over Rennes, Valenciennes and Nancy played to a 1-1 draw, champions Marseille topped Grenoble, 2-0, St Etienne finished 1-1 with Nice and Toulouse played to a 0-0 draw with Monaco.