Ten-man Lyon came from behind to beat Nice 2-1 and move to the top of Ligue 1 on Sunday, as previous leaders Monaco suffered their first defeat of the season.
Five teams are level on 14 points at the top of the table, with Lyon leading Paris Saint-Germain, Paris FC, Lille and Monaco on goal difference.
Lyon will face PSG next weekend.
“It’s good to be top, but it’s not the most important thing,” said Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca.
“But having 14 points is very positive. Of course, that gives us confidence and greater responsibilities, but at this stage of the season it changes nothing.”
Lyon had to fight hard for the victory in front of local boy and French cycling prodigy Paul Seixas, particularly after Keito Nakamura was sent off 20 minutes from time.
Ivory Coast forward Elye Wahi opened the scoring for Nice in the 18th minute with his second goal of the season. He was denied a stoppage-time equaliser by a marginal offside decision.
Two goals in three minutes turned the game around before half-time, as Pavel Sulc tapped home a rebound to equalise before Tanner Tessmann headed Lyon into the lead.
Veteran Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel headed against the crossbar early in the second half, while Wahi struck the post with a close-range header shortly after Nakamura was sent off for a high boot.
Noah Cadiou’s second-half penalty secured a 1-0 victory for Lorient over Monaco in Brittany on Sunday, preventing the principality club from returning to the top of Ligue 1.
Wing-back Dembo Sylla won the penalty in the 60th minute after being brought down by Monaco captain Denis Zakaria at the Stade du Moustoir.
Finnish goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky dived in the right direction, but Cadiou placed his spot-kick into the corner to hand Monaco their first league defeat of the season.
Stunning bicycle kick
Paris FC joined the leading group as Lassine Sinayoko’s stoppage-time penalty secured a 4-3 victory over Rennes, who dropped to fifth, one point behind the top five, despite Esteban Lepaul scoring a hat-trick of penalties.
Maxime Lopez twice put the hosts ahead, only for Lepaul, who earned his first France cap during the recent international break, to equalise from the spot on both occasions.
Sinayoko appeared to have secured victory for Paris FC 14 minutes from time with a stunning overhead bicycle kick. However, Brazilian substitute Otavio’s clumsy handball gave Lepaul the chance to equalise for a third time.
But Sinayoko had the final say, drilling home his penalty after a VAR review penalised Valentin Rongier for tugging the Mali forward’s shirt.
Marseille secured a much-needed victory with a 5-2 thrashing of Angers to move further away from the relegation zone.
Lilian Raolisoa gave Angers the lead, but Marseille responded with goals from Himad Abdelli and Nouhoum Kamissoko before half-time.
Amine Gouiri scored his fifth goal of the season for Marseille, converting the rebound after his penalty was saved by Anthony Lopes.
Amine El Ouazzani pulled one back for Angers from the spot, but late goals from Amine Harit and Igor Paixao sealed only Marseille’s third win in seven league matches.
Bruno Genesio’s side had started the weekend just above the relegation play-off spot on goal difference and had also lost their opening two Europa League matches.
Winless Le Havre remain rooted to the bottom of the table after Cameroon forward Danny Namaso scored twice to help Auxerre secure a 3-1 victory in Normandy, opening up a gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/sports/football/lyon-go-top-ligue-1-monaco-suffer-first-defeat-season-1577111
