France round-up: Brazilians inspire rampant Lyon

Brazilian striker Sonny Anderson scored twice as champions Olympique Lyonnais registered an impressive 6-1 victory over CS Sedan-Ardennes in the French first division on Saturday.

Camara opener
Sedan's Senegalese international striker Henri Camara opened the scoring after eluding Lyon's defence in the eighth minute, but Brazilian midfield player Juninho equalised with a powerful volley from inside the box just before the break. His compatriot Caçapa then put the home side in the driving seat when his header found the net after a fine cross from striker Sydney Govou on the stroke of half-time.

Anderson the hero
Anderson then made another Brazilian contribution to the game, scoring his side's third on the hour before Juninho put the issue beyond doubt with a superb free-kick from the edge of the penalty area nine minutes later. Anderson added a fifth goal in the 80th minute and substitute Peggy Luyindula completed the rout in injury-time.

'Best possible team'
Lyon coach Paul Le Guen was delighted with his side's performance, saying: "I've lined up the best possible team tonight. The guys were just great and they fought back after Sedan opened the scoring. We proved that we are fit and ready to play but we must not let ourselves get carried away, as there are still a lot of matches to play".

Nantes on top
FC Nantes Atlantique moved to the top of the standings thanks to a 1-0 win over SC Bastia, leaving them as the only team to have won both of their opening matches. Midfield player Matthieu Berson, who helped Nantes to a 2-0 win over Olympique de Marseille last week, scored the winner with five minutes to go.

Marseille in charge
Marseille confirmed that they are still AS Monaco FC's bogey team when they clinched a hard-earned 1-0 win at Stade Louis II in the principality. Brazilian Fernandão scored the winner nine minutes after the break, slotting in from close range after a neat one-two with Lamine Sakho. The defeat came as a huge setback for Monaco, who had made a flying start to their season with a 4-0 victory at ES Troyes Aube Champagne last week.

Raschke strike
RC Lens, still struggling to reproduce their impressive form of last season, were held to a 1-1 draw at home by FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. The visitors opened the scoring when defender Philippe Raschke outpaced the hosts' defence to fire in from close range in the 34th minute, but Lens equalised through midfield player Seydou Keita just after the hour.

'More time'
Having finished second in the table last term, Keita knows Lens have work to do. "We got off to a poor start in this game and had to battle to equalise," he said. "We are still far from our best and we need some time to regain our form. We only took one point and it proved that we have a lot of homework to do, but I'm confident we are going to improve. We just need more time."

Diawara treble
Newly-promoted OGC Nice earned their first victory of the season as a hat-trick from Kaba Diawara helped them to a convincing 4-0 home win against RC Strasbourg. Diawara struck after 10, 37 and 52 minutes to complete a memorable treble, before José Cobos added a fourth in the last minute.

Guingamp impress
En Avant Guingamp built on last week's superb comeback against champions Lyon to register a decisive 2-0 win against new boys AC Ajaccio, while nine-man Lille OSC were forced to hold on for a goalless draw in their match against Le Havre AC.

Cech saves the day
In the day's other match, Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech earned Stade Rennais FC a point from a match they almost lost at the death against Troyes. The former AC Sparta Praha stopper pulled off a stunning double save in injury-time to deny firstly Mamadou Niang, then Gharib Amzine as the game finished in a scoreless draw.