France round-up: Rennes rule as leaders falter

Struggling Stade Rennais FC were the biggest winners on a topsy-turvy day in Ligue 1.

Surprise win
Rennes secured a rousing 5-1 win against Lille OSC at the Route de Lorient stadium but were unable to shift from the bottom of the table after fellow strugglers Le Havre AC secured a surprise victory away from home.

Rennes in command
Olivier Monterrrubio gave Rennes the lead from the penalty spot after 21 minutes and, gaining in confidence, Olivier Echouafni doubled the home side's lead eight minutes later before a third goal from Frédéric Piquionne sent them into the half-time interval with a 3-0 lead. Piquionne completed his hat-trick with goals in the 49th and 63rd minutes before Vladimir Mantchev's 64th-minute strike restored a little dignity for Lille.

Leaders stumble
A good day for the nation's bottom club coincided with a dreaful one for the top sides as both leaders OGC Nice and third-placed Olympique de Marseille lost to leave the way open for Olympique Lyonnais to take top spot as they face RC Strasbourg on Sunday.

Nasty day for Nice
Nice lost 3-0 away at CS Sedan-Ardennes, with goals from Henri Camara either side of half-time puting the home side in command before a late strike from Alain Liri sealed the points. Marseille fared little better, losing 2-0 at SC Bastia through two goals in the last fifteen minutes from Chaouki Ben Saada.

Monaco on top
AS Monaco FC recovered from a poor start to win 3-1 against Paris Saint-Germain FC in Saturday's early game. The visitors took the lead at the Louis II stadium after 25 minutes through Brazilian international Ronaldinho, but Monaco were back on level terms by half-time as Shabani Nonda equalised after 39 minutes.

Tenth goal for Nonda
Nonda then steered Monaco into the lead with a goal after 69 minutes which pushed him to the top of the Ligue 1 goalscoring charts with ten, and ten minutes later, Monaco's win was assured as Rafael Marquez made it 3-1. To add to PSG's misery, Francis Llacer was dismissed in added time.

Joy for Le Havre
Later, Le Havre prospered on their travels with a 2-1 win at AC Ajaccio, despite going behind to a David Faderne strike two minutes before half-time. Olivier Fauconnier got them back on level terms eight minutes into the second half, before Jean-Michel Lesage's goal 12 minutes from time won the day.

Sochaux go fourth
Elsewhere, Wilson Oruma's 65th-minute strike was enough to see FC Sochaux-Montbéliard overcome ES Troyes Aube Champagne and take fourth place in the table, while FC Nantes Atlantique are up to seventh after a 3-1 win against Montpellier Hérault SC.

Two red cards
Goals either side of half-time from Marama Vahrua and Frederic Da Rocha had given Nantes a comfortable lead before a 72nd-minute clash between Nantes' Mario Yepes and Montpellier's Habib Bamogo saw both sides reduced to ten men. Bruno Carotti pulled a goal back for Montpellier six minutes later, but Nicolas Gillet's strike a minute from time eased Nantes to safety.