Monaco move up as PSG flounder

A late Emmanuel Adebayor goal gave AS Monaco FC a narrow 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes, taking Didier Deschamps's side top of Ligue 1 and heaping even more agony on winless Paris Saint-Germain FC.

Midweek loss
Roundly beaten by Chelsea FC in midweek, the morale-boosting victory PSG needed to silence their critics never looked like coming against an impressive Monaco side. The passion Parisian coach Vahid Halilhodzic had demanded from his players was there to see, but although Portuguese forward Pauleta struck a post in the first half, he became increasingly isolated up front.

Perfect riposte
Monaco accumulated chance after chance until Adebayor finally broke the deadlock, his powerful diving header in the 83rd minute securing three points for Monaco that lifts them clear of the pack after Olypique Lyonnais were held yesterday.

Metz woe
Just behind them in second place are AJ Auxerre who notched up the weekend's largest victory, 4-0 against FC Metz. Two goals from Zimbabwean Benjani Mwaruwari and a third from Bonaventure Kalou in the first 25 minutes effectively ended the game as a contest. Venn Touré's sending-off on 64 minutes added further misery for Metz before Lionel Mathis wrapped things up with Auxerre's fourth as the visitors' unbeaten record came to an end.

Nice recovery
At the other end of the table, OGC Nice came back from behind against FC Sochaux-Montbéliard to secure their first win of the season. Victor Agali hit the deciding goal after team-mate Marama Vahirua had equalised Fabien Boudarène's early strike. Elsewhere, Lille OSC made it two home wins in a row as a goal apiece for Milenko Acimovic and Philippe Brunel saw off mid-table SM Caen.