No festive cheer for Lyon, Marseille, as Lille go second

PARIS (AFP) - Lyon and Marseille went into the Christmas recess nursing severe headaches after home defeats to Montpellier and Auxerre on Wednesday.

Multiple champions Lyon slipped to sixth place after a 2-1 loss to one of the season's surprise packages Montpellier, while Marseille fell 2-0 to Auxerre.

Lille, who enjoyed a 4-0 goal spree at Nancy, jumped into second, on 34 points, six behind Bordeaux who can extend their lead further if they beat Toulouse in Wednesday's late match.

Montpellier go into third on 33 points, one point clear of Marseille and Auxerre with struggling Lyon ten points off the top.

The dominant force of the past decade, Lyon have now won just once in their last eight league matches and their title challenge and morale appears to be fading by the week.

Lyon, who are at least into the knockout stages of the Champions League, slipped up due to second half goals from Colombian striker Victor Montano and Joris Marveaux with Bafetimbi Gomis getting their only contribution.

This will be the first time Lyon have reached the midway point of the season without figuring in the top three since the 2002-2003 campaign.

The only source of comfort for the seven-time titleholders will be that they ended up champions that season.

The fans at the Stade Gerland are becoming furstrated, and whistled manager Claude Puel's name when it was announced before kick-off.

The mood wasn't much better down on the south coast at the Velodrome.

Marseille, who had been unable to beat 10-man Saint Etienne on their last outing, disappointed again with Auxerre's three points coming from Denis Oliech's double.

Before the game Marseille had deemed "insufficient" an offer from Greek side Olympiakos for winger Hatem Ben Arfa.

There was festive cheer meanwhile up in the French capital where Paris Saint Germain dished out a 4-0 drubbing to basement club Grenoble to improve their prospects of playing in Europe next term..

Down at the foot Le Mans just managed to stay out of the relegation zone occupied by Grenoble, Boulogne and Saint Etienne, with a battling 1-1 draw against Monaco.