France round-up: Lyon goal spree

Olympique Lyonnais scored four goals in ten first-half minutes as they crushed Olympique de Marseille 4-0 at the Gerland stadium.

Sonny delight
Sonny Anderson opened the scoring in the 24th minute when he converted a penalty after a Franck Jurietti foul on Eric Carrière. The Brazilian then turned provider when he crossed for Pierre Laigle to turn the ball home from close range.  Sydney Govou made it three in the 31st minute after breaking from midfield and three minutes later Anderson grabbed his second, blasting home Carrière's cross.

Auxerre third
Second-placed Lyon are now four points behind leaders RC Lens, who take on fellow title rivals Paris Saint-Germain FC on Thursday. AJ Auxerre moved third - nine points behind Lens - after riding their luck in a goalless draw at Montpellier Hérault SC. The home side hit the woodwork twice and had a late effort cleared off the line as they dominated the match.

Cygan sent off
It also finished goalless between fourth-placed Lille OSC and En Avant Guingamp - and Lille's disappointment was compounded six minutes from time by the dismissal of Pascal Cygan for two bookable offences.

Rennes go bottom
FC Lorient climbed off the foot of the table as a 2-0 victory at Stade Rennais FC consigned their opponents to bottom spot. Pascal Feindouno and Richard Martini got the goals as Lorient followed up their 2-1 French Cup success over the same team last weekend

Metz boost
FC Metz are third from bottom after a 2-1 win at SC Bastia. Gilbert Gress officially takes over as Metz coach tomorrow, having been appointed to replace the sacked Albert Cartier. Two first-half goals from Jonathan Jager increased his new side's chances of escaping the drop. Another side with relegation worries, reigning champions FC Nantes Atlantique claimed a point in a goalless draw with CS Sedan-Ardennes.

Monaco beaten
AS Monaco FC went down 3-0 at Espérance Sportive Troyes AC, Nicolas Goussé (2) and David Hamed the scorers against a Monaco side reduced to ten men in the first period by the dismissal of Pontus Farnerud. In the night's other game, FC Girondins de Bordeaux suffered a 1-0 home defeat against FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. Pierre-Alain Frau scored the only goal of the game in the ninth minute.