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Sports

Lyon handles Sochaux to go top of Ligue 1

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Montbeliard, France – Lyon made it two wins from its first two Ligue 1 matches this season after posting a comfortable 3-1 victory over Sochaux on Friday at the Stade Auguste Bonal.

Coming off a comfortable 4-0 hammering of Nice in its season-opener last week, Lyon received tallies from Yassine Benzia, Alexandre Lacazette and Yoann Gourcuff en route to a second-consecutive victory early in the campaign.

Ryad Boudebouz scored for Sochaux, but the club was unable to keep up with Lyon's offensive prowess and failed to build momentum after last week's 1-1 draw with Evian.

The hosts had the better of the play in the early stages and got a break just four minutes in when Cedric Bakambu was taken down in the box by Lyon's Milan Bisevac, resulting in a penalty kick.

Boudebouz buried the spot kick for his first goal of the campaign.

But Lyon found an equalizer in the 35th minute when Clement Grenier sent a nice through ball to Benzia, who smashed it home with a left-footed strike for his first goal of the young season.

Lyon grabbed the lead for good two minutes before the interval as Benzia laid it off for Lacazette just outside the Sochaux penalty area and he beat goalkeeper Simon Pouplin for his third tally of the season.

The visitors wrapped up three points just three minutes into the second half when Gourcuff fired home his first goal of the campaign.

The result sees Lyon rise to the top of the Ligue 1 table with six points, while Sochaux remains on one point from its first two matches.

Elsewhere in France this weekend, defending league champions Paris Saint- Germain will shoot for their first three-point effort of the season when Les Parisiens welcome Ajaccio to the Parc des Princes on Sunday.

PSG fell behind early in last week's match against Montpellier as Remy Cabella found the back of the net just 10 minutes into the game. But PSG remained composed and found an equalizer on the hour mark through Maxwell to claim their first point of the young season.

Also in France on Sunday, newly-promoted side Monaco aims for its second consecutive top-flight victory against Montpellier after the club won its Ligue 1 debut last week over Bordeaux by a 2-0 score.

Lorient will also shoot for its first win over the season on Sunday when the side faces Nantes.

After a comfortable 3-1 win over newcomers Guingamp, Marseille welcomes Evian to the Velodrome on Saturday, while Bastia will battle Valenciennes at the Stade Armand-Cesari.

Nice welcomes Rennes to the Stade Municipal du Ray, while St Etienne goes for its second victory of the young campaign at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard against Guingamp.

The weekend schedule concludes as Reims hosts Lille at the Stade Auguste Delaune II, while Toulouse battles Bordeaux at the Stade Municipal de Toulouse.