Lyon back on top in France

LYON, France (AFP) - Champions Lyon resumed their traditional place atop the French league with a 3-0 victory over Lens at their Gerland Stadium on Saturday.

Lyon coach Alain Perrin had been under intense pressure to take the three points from the delayed match and move up from fourth place in the league.

And his side duly delivered as they warmed up for Tuesday night's Champions League game here against Scottish side Rangers with goals from Brazilian Fabio Santos, Swede Kim Kallstrom and Karim Benzema.

The win puts Lyon joint top with Nancy on 19 points after nine games. Nancy have a game in hand, however. Perrin expressed his delight that his strategy is falling into place.

"Everything is running like clockwork. We wanted a victory to give us a confidence boost but also to win in style. We did what we wanted ahead of meeting Glasgow Rangers," he said.

"The team are beginning to gel and work well together, which gives me confidence for what we are trying to put in place. Now we have to focus on Tuesday's Champions League match which will be difficult to win."

Lyon made most of the early running, missing three goal chances through Czech striker Milan Baros (10), Abdulkader Keita (18) and Santos (31).

But Santos hit back four minutes before the break with his first goal since joining the club in January, beating the offside trap to finish off a pass from Baros.

Kallstrom scored their second nine minutes from time with a long shot from the left, as the league's top scorer Benzema, netted his ninth this term just before the full-time whistle.

Lens with just one win from eight games stay stuck in the relegation zone in 18th position, as their new coach Jean-Pierre Papin tries desperately to find the winning formula.

Papin complained bitterly at the refereeing and particularly Santos's opening goal which he considered to be offside.

"The refereeing made the difference, notably the first goal. There were other arguable decisions. Lyon don't need that to win.

"It's never nice to lose 3-0. I'm frustrated."

Lyon have not finished outside the top three in the league since 1999 and won their sixth consecutive championship last season.