Ligue 1 Wrap: Lyon win to go four points clear
Ligue 1 pacesetters Lyon continued their fine run and opened up a gap at the top of the table after beating Lens.
Lyon went four points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table on Saturday thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win at struggling Lens.
Hubert Fournier's side owe much to the form of the league's leading goalscorer, Alexandre Lacazette, and the France international found the net again in Amiens, his 23rd goal of the season in all competitions.
Lyon required a stroke of luck to break the deadlock, though, as Lens defender Jean-Philippe Gbamin turned a Nabil Fekir cross past his own goalkeeper with 21 minutes gone.
The second arrived just five minutes later, Lacazette converting a penalty after Boubacar Sylla had handled the ball in the area.
With that goal the Lyon forward became the first player since Carlos Bianchi in 1978 to score 20 goals in 21 Ligue 1 matches.
With victory, Lyon moved on to 45 points, four clear of Marseille, who – like fellow title hopefuls Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Etienne – are in action on Sunday.
At the other end of the table, rock-bottom Caen moved to within a point of Lens after getting their first league win since October, with Reims on the end of a comprehensive 4-1 defeat.
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Monaco closed in on the top four with a 1-0 win over Nantes thanks to Bernardo Silva's 73rd-minute strike, while Montpellier leapt up to sixth after beating hosts Metz 3-2, with Lucas Barrios claiming a hat-trick in the process.
Lille, who last season finished third in Ligue 1, missed the opportunity to climb into the top half of the table as they were beaten 1-0 by Lorient, who themselves opened up a three-point gap above the relegation zone.
Toulouse stumbled to a 1-1 draw at home to Bastia, leaving Alain Casanova's men two points clear of Evian in 18th.