France round-up: Christmas cheer for Marseille

Olympique de Marseille go into the winter break in top spot after a 1-1 draw at home against AS Monaco FC on Friday.

Busy night
On a busy night in France, a disappointing result was enough to leave Marseille in pole position as Monaco failed to break their run of 23 years without a win at the Stade Velodrome.

Long-range strike
Croatian striker Dado Prso gave the visitors the lead after 41 minutes but Daniel van Buyten equalised after 62 minutes for Marseille with a powerful free-kick.

'Forgot to defend'
"When a team are top of the league, they have to play as leaders and we just didn't do that in the first half. We rushed into attack and forgot to defend," said Marseille coach Alain Perrin.

Nice in second
OGC Nice remain within a point of the leaders after a goalless draw at RC Strasbourg in a game marred by on-pitch violence and the dismissal of Nice defender Cedric Varrault and Strasbourg striker Christian Bassila. En Avant Guingamp are also just one point off top spot after a 3-1 win against AC Ajaccio.

Late equaliser
Defending champions Olympique Lyonnais dreamed of a top-spot Christmas until the dying seconds of their game at CS Sedan-Ardennes. They were leading 1-0 thanks to a 48th-minute Sonny Anderson goal when Henri Camara equalised in added time.

Sochaux rampant
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard sent last season's runners-up RC Lens crashing to a 3-0 defeat with a double from Brazilian striker Dos Santos and a third by Pierre-Alain Frau.

Match postponed
The year ended in a nightmare for Montpellier Hérault SC, sent to the bottom of the table by the postponement of their game against AJ Auxerre because of a flooded pitch.