Olympique Lyonnais extended their lead atop Ligue 1 to six points after the champions defeated AS Nancy-Lorraine 2-1 and second-placed Olympique de Marseille could only draw 1-1 at Le Mans UC 72.
Benzema opener Lyon went into the match at the Stade de Gerland with five wins and a draw to show from their opening six games and they never looked like suffering a first loss of the campaign after Karim Benzema and Fred respectively struck on 31 and 35 minutes following assists by Anthony Mounier, although Pascal Berenguer halved the deficit almost immediately. The one black mark for Lyon came when Benzema was substituted on 58 minutes after injuring his right ankle although, although he is not expected to miss the UEFA Champions League game against at FC Bayern München.
Madrid trip Marseille are also on UEFA Champions League duty in midweek at Club Atlético de Madrid and they endured a testing night at Le Mans. Both goals came inside the opening ten minutes, Hatem Ben Arfa breaking the deadlock with a lovely solo goal for OM after seven before Norway forward Thorstein Helstad headed in an Ibrahima Camara throw-in for Le Mans. Mamadou Samassa went close to earning Marseille three late points but his 85th-minute header cannoned to safety off the crossbar.
Auxerre climb Le Mans have eleven points along with Toulouse FC, ahead of their trip to Valenciennes FC on Sunday, and SM Caen after Les Normands added to FC Nantes' troubles by beating the western club 3-0 at the Stade Michael D'Ornano. AJ Auxerre defeated Le Havre AC by the same 3-0 scoreline to move on to ten points along with Stade Rennais FC, 1-0 victors against OGC Nice. Elsewhere, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and FC Lorient drew 1-1, while Paris Saint-Germain FC entertain Grenoble Foot 38 in the late game. On Sunday, FC Girondins de Bordeaux host AS Saint-Etienne and AS Monaco FC are at home to LOSC Lille Métropole.