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Roundup: Lyon go four points clear on top of Ligue 1

Xinhua, January 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

French Ligue 1 top scorer Alexandre Lacazette claimed his 20th league goal of the season and helped Lyon go four points clear at the top of the table on Saturday after a 2-0 away win over struggling Lens.

The 23-year-old striker, a Lyon native, converted a penalty kick on 26 minutes since Boubacar Sylla had handled the ball in the area, just five minutes after his team opened scoring with an own goal from Lens defender Jean-Philippe Gbamin while trying to clear a Nabil Fekir cross.

With the victory, Hubert Fournier's side moved on to 45 points, four points clear of Marseille, who host Guingamp on Sunday evening.

Like Marseille, the other two title hopefuls Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Etienne are also in action on Sunday, with PSG playing Evian at home and St-Etienne visiting Rennes.

At the other end of the table, rock-bottom Caen moved to within a point of Lens after beating Reims 4-1, their first league win since October.

In other matches on Saturday, Monaco closed in on the top four with a 1-0 win over Nantes, Montpellier leapt up to sixth after beating Metz 3-2, last season's third finishers Lille missed the opportunity to climb into the top half of the table after being beaten 1-0 by Lorient, and Toulouse stumbled to a 1-1 draw at home to Bastia. Endi