Cedric Bakambu - MarseilleGetty

DR Congo's Bakambu rescues Marseille with late winner against Nice

Cedric Bakambu scored his third Ligue 1 goal in Marseille's 2-1 triumph over Nice on Sunday.

Bakambu made an instant impact for the Olympians after replacing Dimitri Payet in the 88th minute, with his strike just a minute later turning out to be the match-winning goal.

Arkadiusz Milik gave Marseille a first-half lead after converting from the penalty spot in the stoppage time but Gabon's Mario Lemina pulled a goal back for Nice late in the encounter.

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Lemina’s effort was his second league goal of the season and he played the entire duration for Nice who dropped to fourth in the table after the loss.

Meanwhile, Marseille still hold second spot in Ligue 1 with 53 points after 29 games and they also had Senegal's Pape Gueye and Morocco's Amine Harit on parade.

Bakambu’s goal sends a strong warning to Morocco ahead of their 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying fixture against DR Congo on March 25 and 29.

The 30-year-old is among the 28 players summoned by Hector Cuper for the crucial games that will decide their World Cup fate.

At Rennes, Guinean descent Serhou Guirassy scored a hat-trick and Mali's Hamari Traore scored a goal for hosts who ran riot over Metz with a 6-1 victory.

Following Martin Terrier's quick double, Guirassy found the back of the net in the 40th minute and continued after the restart with two goals within 10 minutes.

Traore, on his part, contributed to Rennes' attacking play with his assist for Guirassy in the 54th minute and he extended their lead with his second goal of the season, four minutes later.

Rennes were cruising to a win without blemish until Central African Republic star Louis Mafouta scored an 87th-minute consolation goal for Metz.

Rennes are third in the Ligue 1 table with 52 points from 29 matches while Metz are placed 19th with 23 points after the same number of games.

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