Own goal extends Lyon lead

By Chris Burke

Olympique Lyonnais moved four points clear at the top of Ligue 1 thanks to a Charles Itandje own goal that gave the French champions a 1-0 win away to RC Lens.

Own goal
On 36 minutes Lens defender Jacek Bak headed against his own post and the ball bounced off Itandje before crossing the line. Lyon's fifth away success this season took them to 29 points, with second-placed LOSC Lille Métropole travelling to FC Istres tomorrow.

Late equaliser
When Mohamed Kallon scored from the penalty spot with eleven minutes to go at home to AC Ajaccio, it looked like AS Monaco FC were set for a vital first win in six matches. Javier Saviola had earlier cancelled out Ajaccio's opener from Serbo-Montenegrin defender Nenad Dzodic, but Abdelnasser Ouadah took advantage of confusion in the Monaco box to level the scores once again in added time. Didier Deschamps' team fell back into fifth spot, eight points behind Lyon.

Sochaux win
Leapfrogging Monaco into fourth place, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard secured their first away win against SM Caen with goals from Brazil striker Ilan and substitute Jaouad Zairi. Meanwhile, FC Girondins de Bordeaux's run of five draws came to an end with defeat at RC Strasbourg, Mickaël Pagis heading the only goal two minutes into stoppage time. Albert Riera missed a penalty for Bordeaux, who dropped to eighth place.

Feindouno double
Strasbourg stayed in the bottom three after two goals from Pascal Feindouno gave AS Saint-Etienne a 2-1 home victory against OGC Nice, for whom Victor Agali was on target. Elsewhere, Franck Ribéry's late effort earned FC Metz a 1-1 draw at Toulouse FC after Thibault Giresse had put the hosts ahead. The game between SC Bastia and Stade Rennais FC also finished 1-1.