Relentless Lyon march on in Monaco

Olympique Lyonnais's march towards a seventh successive French title shows no sign of slowing after the champions won 3-0 at AS Monaco FC to stretch their advantage over second-placed FC Girondins de Bordeaux, who play on Sunday, to nine points.

Kéita double
Six days after opening his Ligue 1 account for Lyon against Bordeaux at Stade de Gerland, Kader Keita found the net again with a half-volley past Monaco goalkeeper Stéphane Ruffier on 20 minutes. One became two 14 minutes later as Fred struck his fourth goal in as many league outings, and Keita – Lyon’s record €17.6m signing – made it 3-0 seven minutes before the break after latching on to another fine pass from Mathieu Bodmer and lifting it over Ruffier.

Piquionne injury
With their work done, Lyon eased off in the second half, although Monaco's afternoon did take another turn for the worse when their leading striker Frédéric Piquionne was substituted with 14 minutes to play after spraining his ankle. Monaco are winless in an eight-match streak stretching back to 23 January but remain in contention to qualify for Europe. Bordeaux are at home to RC Strasbourg on Sunday.

PSG predicament
Elsewhere, AS Nancy-Lorraine missed the opportunity to close to within a point of Bordeaux as they could only draw at FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, Mosef Zerka (82) cancelling out Mevlut Erding's 55th-minute opener. Sochuaux remain in the bottom three, however, but level on points with Paris Saint-Germain FC after they were also held at home by Valenciennes FC. Pauleta scored an 82nd-minute equaliser for the capital giants.

Lille joy
Toulouse FC are two fewer points worse off despite picking up a much-needed point at AS Saint-Etienne, while FC Metz appear doomed after a 2-1 home defeat by OGC Nice. Nice, in contrast, are continuing to make strides up the table and now occupy fifth place - on 43 points, two behind Olympique de Marseille who travel to RC Lens on Sunday - ahead of a Le Mans UC 72 side who slip a place following a 1-1 home draw against Stade Rennais FC. LOSC Lille Métropole were the big movers of the day following a 5-0 home success against SM Caen, while FC Lorient-AJ Auxerre finished 1-1.