In the battle of Japan defenders, Hiroki Sakai trumped Gen Shoji as Marseille beat Toulouse 5 – 2 in the penultimate league match of Ligue 1, with Sakai scoring and assisting one.

Sakai, who has been playing for Marseille since 2016, came up against fellow Samurai Blue and Toulouse’s winter acquisition Shoji for the first time in the French league. And it was the more experienced Marseille fullback who came out tops in the end, where he helped himself to his first Ligue 1 goal in their away win.

Despite Toulouse losing their final home game of the season, results elsewhere ensured their safety from relegation. Shoji & co. will have lots to improve on for next season.

Toulouse 2 – 5 Marseille

(Aaron Leya Iseka 26′, Max Gradel 61′ – Morgan Sanson 29′, Hiroki Sakai 50′, Clinton N Jie 71′, Florian Thauvin 90′, 90′)

P Team M W D L P 1 PSG 37 29 4 4 91 2 Lille 37 22 9 6 75 3 Lyon 37 20 9 8 69 4 Saint-Etienne 37 19 8 10 65 5 Montpellier 37 15 14 8 59 6 Marseille 37 17 7 13 58 7 Nimes 37 15 8 14 53 8 Nice 37 14 11 12 53 9 Reims 37 12 16 9 52 10 Rennes 37 12 13 12 49 11 Nantes 37 13 9 15 48 12 Strasbourg 37 10 16 11 46 13 Angers 37 10 15 12 45 14 Bordeaux 37 9 11 17 38 15 Toulouse 37 8 14 15 38 16 Monaco 37 8 12 17 36 17 Amiens 37 8 11 18 35 18 Caen 37 7 12 18 33 19 Dijon 37 8 7 22 31 20 Guingamp 37 5 12 20 27

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Source: Yahoo

Images: gettyimages