Defeated Lyon, Bordeaux miss chance to go top

PARIS (AFP) –

Toulouse’s French defender Cheick Mbengue (L) vies with Lyon’s French goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre (R) during the French L1 football match Toulouse (TFC) vs Lyon (OL) at the Stadium Municipal in Toulouse. Toulouse won 3-0.

Lyon spurned an opportunity to move top of Ligue 1 on Sunday after crashing to a 3-0 defeat at Toulouse, while Bordeaux also missed a chance to go first after losing 1-0 at defending champions Montpellier.

Wissam Ben Yedder scored two-second half goals — taking his tally for the campaign to nine — for Toulouse, while Etienne Capoue added a late third to halt their three-game losing streak.

Defeat for Lyon saw Remi Garde’s side stay on 25 points, one behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, while Toulouse, 22, jumped up to seventh.

“The scale of the defeat disappoints me, even if the last two goals, that came later, were academic. It’s a heavy defeat but Toulouse were superior to us and there is no excuse even if the coordination with Europa League matches is not easy to manage,” said Garde.

Toulouse dominated the first half at Stade Municipal but were frustrated by a combination of Lyon goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre and the woodwork, but Alain Casanova’s men eventually broke the deadlock five minutes after the interval.

Franck Tabanou’s deep cross picked out Ben Yedder at the far post, who nodded past Vercoutre from a tight angle.

The France under-21 international then hit his second on 87 minutes, coolly firing beyond Vercoutre after he was put through by Serge Aurier.

Ben Yedder also played a pivotal role in Toulouse’s third, rounding the keeper before losing his footing, leaving Capoue to steer the ball home.

Earlier, last year’s title-winners Montpellier extended their unbeaten league run to five matches with a 1-0 victory over Bordeaux at Stade de la Mosson.

Bordeaux were left to rue missed opportunities from Nicolas Maurice-Belay in the first half, as Cabella controlled a long pass from Romain Pitau before drilling past goalkeeper Cedric Carasso midway through the second period to earn Montpellier all three points.

Defeat snapped Bordeaux’s three-game winning streak and left them fourth, two points behind PSG, while the win for Montpellier saw them climb to 12th on 17 points.

Marseille could draw level with arch-rivals PSG at the top with a victory at home to Lille later on Sunday.