Monaco and Lyon break away
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Article summary
Joint-leaders Olympique Lyonnais and AS Monaco FC both won 1-0 as the race for the title intensified.
Article body
Joint-leaders Olympique Lyonnais and AS Monaco FC both picked up single-goal victories as the race for the Ligue 1 title intensified at the weekend - but Paris Saint-Germain FC saw their hopes of silverware dealt a huge blow by an away defeat at the hands of RC Lens.
Slender victories
Brazilian striker Giovane Elber, Lyon's hero in last week's 1-0 defeat of FC Nantes Atlantique, scored the only goal again for the champions, popping up after 17 minutes to defeat OGC Nice on their own turf for only the second time this season. Dado Pršo scored Monaco's solitary goal five minutes into the second half of their game against rock-bottom Le Mans UC 72.
Lens again
PSG's defeat means there is now a six-point gap between them and the top two, but had Pedro Pauleta not struck the woodwork with his 67th-minute shot against Lens it could have been a different story. As it was, Charles-Edouard Coridon's goal inflicted a 1-0 defeat on the capital club, who had not lost in the league since being overturned by Lens at the Parc des Princes in November.
Cissé double
FC Sochaux Montbéliard remain in fourth position after struggling to a 2-0 home win against FC Metz but AJ Auxerre, in fifth, kept up the pressure by coming from behind to defeat struggling Toulouse FC 3-2 at the Abbé Deschamps, Djibril Cissé scoring twice. Sixth-placed Olympique de Marseille took on fellow UEFA Cup hopefuls FC Girondins de Bordeaux at the Vélodrome and shared a 1-1 draw, Marseille midfield player Camel Meriem responding to a first-half goal by Pablo Francia.
Moldovan magic
In the weekend's other games, Romanian striker Viorel Moldovan scored a hat-trick for Nantes in their 3-2 win against lowly Montpellier Hérault SC and Alexander Frei took his tally for the season to 13 with two goals in Stade Rennais FC's 3-0 win on their travels against RC Strasbourg. Bernard Diomède scored the only goal of the game for AC Ajaccio against SC Bastia, who had Philippe Delaye sent off and Souleymane Camara scored twice as EA Guingamp defeated Lille OSC 2-1 at the Roudourou.
