Nice return to top

NICE have gone back to the top of Le Championnat with a 2-0 victory over Lille at the Stade Municipal du Ray.

Two second half goals by Abdelmalek Cherrad and Kaba Diawara gave the home side all three points.

Lille finished the match with ten men as Argentine midfielder Fernando D'Amico was sent off for two yellow cards just after the hour mark.

Monaco missed the chance to move to second in the table after being held to a 0-0 draw by Bastia at the Stade Louis II.

The Principality side were forced to play more than half the match with ten men after Eric Cubiller was sent off four minutes before the break by referee Bruno Derrien.

Rennes pulled away from the bottom of table with an excellent 2-1 victory over high-flying Guingamp at the Stade de la Route de Lorient.

The home side went a goal in front around the quarter-hour mark after Guingamp's Claude Michel put through his own net.

The match stayed 1-0 until the closing stages when Rennes doubled their lead through Dominique Arribage with seven minutes to go.

Stephane Carnot scored a consolation goal for the visitors in the final minute but that was not the end of the game's events.

In injury time, referee Gilles Veissiere sent off Rennes' Olivier Echouafni and Guingamp's Christophe Le Roux to leave both sides to complete the match with ten men.

Auxerre got a fifth minute goal from Amdy Faye to defeat Troyes 1-0 at the Stade Abbe-Deschamps.

The win keeps Guy Roux's men in seventh while Troyes remain in a precarious position at the foot of the table.

Bordeaux moved up four places to eighth with a convincing 3-1 victory over bottom club Montpellier at Parc Lescure.

Bertrand Robert had put the visitors in front after 11 minutes before the Brazilian Savio equalised 15 minutes later for Les Girondins, as both sides went into the break at 1-1.

Three minutes after the interval, David Jemmali scored the eventual winner for the home side and Portuguese ace Pedro Pauleta got a third to seal the points for Bordeaux.

Paris Saint Germain dropped a place in the table to ninth following a 0-0 draw in Corsica against struggling Ajaccio.

The French capital club were forced to settle for a point at the Stade Francois-Coty, with Ajaccio still in trouble at the foot of the table.

Both sides finished the match with ten men after referee Alain Hamer sent off Ajaccio's Hoalid Regragui and PSG's Bartholomew Ogbeche in the second half.

Le Havre v Strasbourg and Lens v Sedan were both postponed on Saturday while Nantes advanced to the next round of the French Cup with a 2-0 victory at French second division side Reims.

Click below for match stats:

French Le Championnat:
Ajaccio 0-0 PSG
Auxerre 1-0 Troyes
Bordeaux 3-1 Montpellier
Le Havre P-P Strasbourg
Lens P-P Sedan
Monaco 0-0 Bastia
Nice 2-0 Lille
Rennes 2-1 Guingamp

Click here for an updated Championnat table.