Paris, Aug 28 : Lyon ended Montpellier's perfect start to the French league by winning 2-1 on Saturday. Montpellier still topped the standings but Toulouse and Saint-Etienne could take the lead if they win on Sunday.
Miralem Pjanic flicked home a cross from Brazilian winger Michel Bastos in the 49th minute. The Bosnia playmaker then set up the second goal, making a cross for forward Jeremy Pied, who volleyed home in the 83rd.
Montpellier dropped to 10 men in the 81st when midfielder Younes Belhanda lost his nerves and kicked Pjanic. Montpellier fullback Henri Bedimo scored a consolation goal in the 90th with a long-range strike inside the post.
Lyon could miss Lisandro Lopez for several weeks as the Argentine striker suffered an ankle injury in the 88th.
“It's maybe our best player who got injured,” Lyon midfielder Kim Kallstrom said. “That tarnishes a bit our victory for sure.”
Also, it was: Evian 0, Dijon 1; Auxerre 4, Ajaccio 1; Lorient 2, Nancy 1; Nice 0, Brest 0; and Valenciennes 1, Bordeaux 2.
Substitute Brice Jovial converted a cross from Mehdi Courgnaud in the 68th to give the victory to promoted Dijon.
In Auxerre, Alain Traore netted twice to give the hosts their first victory of the season. Kamel Chafni pounced on a loose ball to slot home from eight yards and put Auxerre ahead in the 34th.
Traore then fired a free kick into the top corner in the 75th to double the lead before notching his fifth goal this season with a strike from the edge of the box to make it 3-0 in the 80th.
Brazilian forward Araujo Ilan pulled one back for Ajaccio in the 83rd. Anthony Le Tallec ended the scoring with a header in the 90th.
“I didn't manage to score on a free kick in training,” Traore told Canal Plus television. “I told the coach yesterday after training that I would net a free kick in a match. So when I scored, I went to see the coach and remind him of my promise.”
In Lorient, forward Yann Jouffre played a one-two with Kevin Monnet-Paquet to fire a drive that deflected off Monnet-Paquet for the winner two minutes into injury time.
Lossemy Karaboue won the ball in midfield to feed Nancy forward Djamel Bakar, who scored with a curling shot in the 10th. But midfielder Arnold Mvuemba curled home a free kick in the 78th to equalize for Lorient.
Bordeaux coach Francis Gillot made two moves in the second half that paid off for the 2009 champion.
Valenciennes midfielder Mathieu Dossevi outpaced the Bordeaux defense to collect a throughball from Gael Danic and beat goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso in the 27th.
Mali midfielder Abdou Traore replaced Nicolas Maurice-Belay in the 75th and converted a rebound to level for Bordeaux in the 80th after Valenciennes goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau parried a shot from Yoan Gouffran.
Bordeaux forward Anthony Modeste came off the bench in the 63rd and scored the winning goal from close range in the second minute of injury time.
“We won because because the players didn't give up,” Gillot said. “We were unlucky in our first matches. At one point, that had to change. And today our fortunes were turned around. I hope we're going to do good things from now on.”
On Sunday, Marseille visits defending champion Lille, Toulouse hosts Paris Saint-Germain, Sochaux faces Saint-Etienne and Rennes takes on Caen. AP
