Camara bolsters Brest’s Champions League hopes

Mahdi Camara, a midfielder, scored his first career hat trick to lead Brest to a 3-0 victory over Strasbourg, ensuring that this season's surprise package will make it into the Champions League for the first time. Second-ranked Brest, an obscure team from a Brittany port city that has never reached higher than ninth in the top league, saw two goals from Camara in the first half. Then, in the sixtyth minute, Camara finished his triple with a beautiful penalty conversion.

With one more game played than both, Eric Roy's team's victory pushed them four points clear of Nice in third place and ten points behind league leaders Paris Saint-Germain. The top three finishers at the end of the season automatically advance to the Champions League group stage. Strasbourg, led by Patrick Vieira, dropped to 12th position.