Ligue 1 wrap: Lyon go top, Lille draw

Lyon gained the outright lead in Ligue 1 after beating Troyes 2-1 on Saturday, while Lille were held at Nancy and Montpellier won.

There had been a three-way tie at the top of the table going into the first round of matches in 2013, with Paris-Saint Germain, Lyon and Marseille all on 38 points.

PSG were held at home to Ajaccio on Friday, while Marseille do not play until Sunday, meaning Lyon’s win sent them two points clear of PSG at the summit.

Maxime Gonalons, who took over the Lyon captaincy from Lisandro Lopez last week, opened the scoring for the visitors in the 11th minute at Stade de l’Aube, before Benjamin Nivet equalised for Troyes with seven minutes to go in the first half.

Samuel Umtiti was the man to net the winner for the away team, his 75th-minute strike good enough for Remi Garde’s team to take away all three points.

In other matches, Lille twice gave up the lead to draw 2-2 away to Nancy.

While Romain Grange’s goal quickly cancelled out a Nolan Roux opener, Lille led for the bulk of the contest after Dimitri Payet made it 2-1 on 31 minutes.

Fortunately for Nancy, Thomas Ayasse was on hand to bag the equaliser with eight minutes to go at the Stade Marcel Picot.

Elsewhere, a brace from Gaetan Charbonnier saw champions Montpellier dispatch Lorient 2-0 at home, while Bordeaux won at Stade Rennes by the same scoreline.

Finally, an Eden Ben Basat penalty and Bruno Grougi’s goal helped Brest register a 2-0 win at Evian, who were a man down as early as the 11th minute, when Bertrand Laquait saw red.