(MENAFN- Arab Times) PARIS Dec 21 (Agencies): Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi repaid Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa's faith in giving him his first start by scoring the decider in the 2-1 win over Lille on Sunday to guarantee they top the table going into the New Year.
Marseille who last won the title in 2010 when coached by Didier Deschamps lead defending champions Paris Saint-Germain who drew 0-0 with Montpellier on Saturday and are five ahead of Lyon who play Bordeaux later. Batshuayi who had to bide his time to get a start after signing from Standard Liege in the summer had got the nod when Bielsa according to media reports told regular starter Dimitri Payet he could go on holiday as he would not be playing after failing to impress in training this week. And the Belgian Under-21 international did not let the mercurial Argentinian coach down in a game played in front of a record Stade Velodrome attendance of 62048 spectators. Batshuayi 21 said the goal was a reward for all the hard work he had put in on the training ground. 'I owe a great debt to the coach for showing his faith in me and giving me the starting role' he said. 'When I was on the bench I was desperate to get on and then to start a match. 'This is a club dear to my heart and when I scored the goal I let out all the emotion I have had cooped up inside me since I joined. 'I think I have taken a step forward today.' Andre-Pierre Gignac had a superb chance in the 12th minute as a weak defensive header fell to him inside the penalty area but he sent his shot well wide of the post. Batshuayi went close to breaking the deadlock in the 27th minute as he created space for himself and unleashed a fine curling effort that went just wide of the post. The hosts went 1-0 up in the 32nd minute in the most unfortunate circumstances for Lille as Nolan Roux tried to put out a poor corner by Florian Thauvin only for it to flash off his boot and beat Vincent Enyeama at the near post. Marseille had other chances including one for Andre Ayew but the Ghanaian star's shot was cleared off the line by Simon Kjaer. Lille were fortunate not be reduced to 10 men 10 minutes into the second half as Idrissa Gueye flashed out his arm and caught Mario Lemina full in the face but despite a harsh talking to by the referee he didn't receive even a booking. He made the most of his good fortune by levelling in the 61st minute his shot from the edge of the area taking a deflection before rolling past Steve Mandanda. However the hosts sent the massed ranks of Marseille fans many in Santa Claus hats into ecstasy in the 69th minute as Batshuayi turned his marker and let fly with a super right-footed effort that gave Enyeama no chance. Marseille were registering their ninth successive home win. Paris Saint-Germain was booed at home in its last match of the year after the defending French league champion was held to a goalless draw by Montpellier on Saturday. It was a first 0-0 draw at home in nearly two years for PSG which fell to its first league defeat of the season at Guingamp last weekend. That result came days after its unbeaten season was ended at Barcelona in the Champions League. 'The match was not complete much like our first half of the campaign' PSG coach Laurent Blanc said. 'Offensively we didn't do enough to win this match. 'Now we need to recharge the batteries. The winter break will be good for us both mentally and physically.' Both sides struggled to carve out chances and the only shot on target in an abject first half was Zlatan Ibrahimovic's weak free kick for PSG. Montpellier also had a goal ruled out for a tight offside decision.
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