Lyon get first points of Ligue 1 season as unfashionable teams win

PARIS: Unfashionable Lorient, Metz and Stade de Reims all won in Ligue 1 on Sunday (Aug 27) while Olympique Lyonnais claimed their first point of the new French league campaign with a 0-0 draw at Nice.

Lyon, with former France manager Laurent Blanc in charge, had lost their opening two games but fought out a bruising and tempestuous stalemate to get off the mark.

It was a mediocre match that did little to suggest Lyon have turned a corner but avoiding a third successive defeat will come as a relief.

Lorient raced into a 2-0 lead and went on to outclass Lille 4-1, winning for the first time this season.

Captain Laurent Abergel pounced on a reckless pass out by Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier to score and within 90 seconds the lead was doubled as Julien Ponceau hammered a superb strike into the roof of the net.

Jonathan David pulled one back early in the second half but Romain Faivre soon restored the two-goal advantage, with a chip over the goalkeeper, and Vincent Le Goff added the fourth not long after.

Reims' new signing Teddy Teuma scored two superb goals, the first a direct free kick and the second a thumping half-volley, as they beat Montpellier 3-1 away, winning for a second successive week.

Reims are up to third spot on six points, one behind early leaders Monaco and Olympique de Marseille.

Patrick Vieira won a second successive home game in charge of his new club Racing Strasbourg as they beat Toulouse 2-0 in an easy assignment where they were rarely threatened.

Striker Emanuel Emegha, recently signed from Sturm Graz in Austria, opened his Ligue 1 account with a header in the 51st minute with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde adding a late second as they moved onto six points.

Georges Mikautadze scored to give promoted Metz a 1-0 win