France round-up: Nice top the table

Rohr of approval 
Goals from Kaba Diawara right on half time and Eric Roy on 63 minutes earned another precious victory for German boss Gernot Rohr, who can hardly have anticipated such a dynamic opening to the new campaign.

Auxerre on target 
Hot on the heels of the south-coast club are Guy Roux's AJ Auxerre, who have the same number of points as Nice (9) but lie second on goal difference. France striker Djibril Cissé's 73rd-minute goal earned the home side a 2-1 victory and was enough to knock opponents En Avant Guingamp off the top of the table.

Late red card 
Midfield player Olivier Kapo put Auxerre ahead after 27 minutes but Stephane Carnot equalised in the second half before Cissé's winner. To add to their misery, Guingamp's Ivory Coast-born defender Blaise Kouassi was sent off nine minutes from time for serious foul play.

Shock for Bordeaux 
Elsewhere, FC Girondins de Bordeaux suffered a shock home defeat by lowly RC Strasbourg, who claimed their first win of the season. It had looked as though normal service would be resumed when Portugal striker Pauleta struck on 64 minutes to cancel out Teddy Bertin's fifth-minute penalty, but Yugoslav striker Danijel Ljuboja scored a second ten minutes later and Strasbourg held on to inflict a first seasonal defeat on Elie Baup's men.

Three for Anderson 
Meanwhile, 31-year-old Sonny Anderson proved he is still a class act, with a hat-trick as champions Olympique Lyonnais won 4-1 against SC Bastia. The Brazilian international hit his fourth, fifth and sixth goals of the season to make the game safe for Paul Le Guen's team, with midfielder Eric Carrière grabbing the fourth five minutes from time. Hassan Ahamada got the lone reply for Bastia.

No joy for Sedan 
How CS Sedan-Ardennes could do with a player of Anderson's striking prowess. Alex Dupont's side have scored just one goal and collected one point all season and find themselves at the foot of the table after Uruguayan striker Walter Guglielmone's goal for AC Ajaccio condemned Sedan to their third defeat in four games.

Chapuis takes two
Cyril Chapuis scored twice as Olympique de Marseille came from behind to record a 3-1 win at Stade Rennais FC, while Didier Deschamps' AS Monaco FC eased their early-season worries by claiming their second win with a 1-0 victory over FC Sochaux-Montbéliard thanks to midfielder Jerome Rothen's 41st-minute strike.

Lens fight back
In today's other game, second-half goals from John Utaka and Papa Bouba Diop enabled RC Lens to salvage a 2-2 draw at FC Nantes Atlantique after Mario Yepes and Frédéric da Rocha had put the home side two up inside 28 minutes.