Wiltord purrs as Lyon triumph

Sylvain Wiltord scored a hat-trick as Olympique Lyonnais overwhelmed basement side RC Strasbourg 4-0 and moved 13 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

Early breakthrough
The leaders slumped to their first defeat of the season against LOSC Lille Métropole in their last outing before the winter break, but any fear of an impending slump were quickly swept aside against tonight's hosts. Wiltord broke the deadlock after just six minutes, heading in after Juninho Pernambucano's free-kick had caused havoc.

Berthod strike
Left-back Jérémy Berthod doubled the advantage just before half-time when he beat the offside trap. Wiltord all but sealed the victory from the edge of the box on 56 minutes, before rounding off a comprehensive performance by completing his hat-trick with 17 minutes remaining - his eighth league goal of the season.

PSG on up
While Lyon were winners in the evening's early game, their closest rivals from the first half of the season, RC Lens and FC Girondins de Bordeaux, were held 1-1 and 0-0 at Olympique de Marseille and AS Nancy-Lorraine respectively. It meant Paris Saint-Germain FC, under new coach Guy Lacombe, climbed from sixth to second place after Pauleta's 74th-minute goal sealed a 3-1 home success against FC Sochaux-Montbéliard

Good night
Lille also enjoyed a good night to move level with Lens and Bordeaux on 33 points, one adrift of PSG. Peter Odemwingie and Swiss international Daniel Gygax scored the goals in a 2-0 home win against AC Ajaccio. The 20th round of matches will conclude on Thursday with AS Monaco FC travelling to AJ Auxerre, with second place up for grabs.

Rennes delight
Further down, the table is equally congested, with AS Saint-Etienne held 1-1 by ES Troyes AC, Stade Rennais FC winning 2-0 at FC Nantes Atlantique for a first derby win in 41 years and Le Mans UC 72 earning victory by the same margin against FC Metz.