Lyon close in on Ligue 1 leaders
Saturday, March 12, 2011
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Olympique Lyonnais will resume their tussle with Real Madrid CF in buoyant spirits after moving to within a point of the Ligue 1 summit with a 2-0 triumph at FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.
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UEFA Champions League hopefuls Olympique Lyonnais moved to within a point of the Ligue 1 summit courtesy of a 2-0 victory at FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.
Due to travel to Real Madrid CF on Wednesday with their round of 16 tie poised at 1-1, Lyon took the lead through Lisandro's low finish after 22 minutes, and they gave themselves breathing space when Miralem Pjanić found the far corner from the left shortly after the hour mark. The win took Claude Puel's side up to third, a point behind leaders LOSC Lille Métropole – scheduled to host Valenciennes FC on Sunday – and Stade Rennais FC, who lost 2-0 at home against Olympique de Marseille on Friday.
The highest scoring game of the day ended with six goals shared evenly between bottom side AC Arles-Avignon and FC Lorient, while second-bottom RC Lens went down 1-0 to visitors Toulouse FC. Seven points higher than the Sang et Or, AS Nancy-Lorraine put more distance between themselves and the relegation zone with a 2-0 defeat of SM Caen, who had Sambou Yatabaré dismissed after 73 minutes. Lastly, OGC Nice beat AJ Auxerre 1-0 and AS Saint-Étienne climbed to sixth by seeing off Stade Brestois 29 2-0.
