Monaco reclaims 4th spot

Monaco reclaims 4th spot

Monaco reclaimed fourth place in Ligue 1 with a comfortable 2-0 victory over struggling Lens at the Stade Louis II on Sunday.

A brace from Nene, taking his tally for the season to seven, did the damage against last season's Ligue 2 champions who were up against it right from the start.

Jean-Guy Wallemme's side remain in the bottom three, although still level on points with 17th-placed Le Mans.

Lorient maintained their good start to the season with a comfortable 4-1 home win over struggling Nice.

While the Breton outfit had 14 points from eight games heading into the weekend, Nice were second-bottom despite having eight points so far.

And their misery continued as Arnold Mvuemba, Marama Vahirua, Sigamary Diarra and Kevin Gameiro all scored in a strong performance by the home side.

On Saturday, newly-promoted Montpellier beat 10-man St Etienne 2-1 to move level on points with Lyon at the top.

Second-half goals from Karim Ait Fana and Souleymane Camara did the job, with Gonzalo Bergessio's penalty only a consolation for Les Verts, who had Yoann Andreu sent off on the stroke of half-time.

Rene Girard's side have now won six of their nine league games so far, losing just once, and trail Lyon only on goal difference after they lost 2-0 at home to Sochaux.

Claude Puel's team suffered a shock first defeat of the season in any competition as Jacques Faty and Sloan Privat gave Sochaux victory.

Coach Francis Gillot had spoken before the game of his desire to obtain a shock result for American striker Charlie Davies, who was hospitalised after suffering career-threatening injuries in a car crash which left a female passenger dead.

And they did so despite a second half of almost relentless pressure from the hosts, for whom the result is the worst possible preparation for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Liverpool.

Champions Bordeaux slipped one place to third after a second successive defeat away to Auxerre.

A second-half penalty from Valter Birsa was enough to separate the sides after Fernando Cavenaghi had missed from the penalty spot for Les Girondins.

Goals by Mathieu Valbuena, Brandao and Fabrice Abriel guided Marseille to an emphatic away victory over Nancy at the Stade Marcel Picot that took them fourth in the table for 24 hours.

Valbuena put the visitors ahead after just four minutes and they dominated the rest of the game before Brandao and Abriel wrapped the game up in the last 13 minutes.

The defeat will have come as a shock to Nancy who were unbeaten at home going into the game.

Rennes were frustrated in their attempts to break into the top five in Ligue 1 as they were held to a goalless draw by Lille and stayed eighth, while Le Mans remained in the bottom three after a 1-1 draw at home to Boulogne.

Fabien Robert's injury-time strike from an Anthony Lecointe cross earned the newly-promoted side a point after Roland Lamah's header seemed to have given the home side all three points.

The draw was harsh on Le Mans, who dominated proceedings and forced a string of fine saves from visiting goalkeeper Mathieu Valverde - though Boulogne hit the crossbar through Guillaume Ducatel.

Valenciennes could afford to miss a penalty as first-half goals by Mamadou Samassa and Fahid Ben Khalfallah guided them to a straightforward victory over bottom side Grenoble.

Saturday's victory was only Valenciennes' second home win of the season but Grenoble are firmly rooted to the bottom with no points and just four goals in nine games.