Gomis brace inches Lyon closer to top of French league

Bafetimbi Gomis struck twice as Lyon beat second-bottom Lens 3-1 on Sunday to close to within two points of Ligue 1 leaders Lille and set themselves up for their European trip to Schalke.

With the Champions League last 16 beckoning if Lyon beat Schalke on Wednesday, Yoann Gourcuff and Lisandro Lopez both began the game on the bench, but after a lacklustre start OL fell behind in the 24th minute.

A high ball from Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was cleared back down the pitch and Aly Cissokho’s miscued clearance allowed Kanga Akale to slip past Pape Diakhate and steer the ball around Lloris from the edge of the box.

Gourcuff and Lisandro both entered the fray at the interval and in the 64th minute Gomis equalised, slamming a sweet volley in off the left-hand post from Jean Makoun’s chipped pass.

Dejan Lovren then hit the post for Lyon, before Gourcuff advanced down the left and lifted a cross into the penalty area for Gomis to crash home his second with a strong header.

Lisandro sealed victory by curling in off the crossbar in the 89th minute.

Lyon join Marseille, Brest and Bordeaux on 22 points — two points behind Lille, but only eighth due to the congestion at the top of the table.

“We were a bit tense at the start and couldn’t free ourselves,” said Lyon coach Claude Puel.

“Luckily we had a really good second half. Looking at the other results, it was good to win tonight.”

Earlier, substitute Ludovic Obraniak scored seven minutes after coming on to give Lille a 2-1 win at home to Monaco that sent them top for the first time this season.

The Polish international winger drove home a cutback from the excellent Eden Hazard with 12 minutes remaining to send Rudi Garcia’s men above previous table-toppers Montpellier on goal difference.

Pierre-Alain Frau had bamboozled visiting goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier with a swerving 20-yard strike from Hazard’s skillful lay-off to put the hosts ahead after 39 minutes.

Lille missed several chances to extend their lead and they were punished in the 57th minute when Brazilian defender Adriano crashed a spectacular overhead kick into the top-left corner to claim his first Monaco goal.

The home side refused to panic, however, and there was no surprise when Hazard created the winner.

The Belgian winger exchanged passes with Tulio De Melo before scampering to the byline on the right-hand side and pulling the ball back for Obraniak to roll the ball beneath Ruffier with his left foot.

“If we’d had a bit more luck, we would have been able to make the game safe,” said Lille coach Garcia.

“The only thing we know is that we’re in a good position to achieve our objective of finishing in the top five.”

Bordeaux held onto seventh place after an Anthony Modeste hat-trick enabled them to come from behind to win 4-2 at bottom side Arles-Avignon.

Camel Meriem gave Arles a 22nd-minute lead but Fabien Laurenti was sent off for blocking Wendel’s goal-bound shot with his arm and Modeste equalised from the resulting penalty before completing his hat-trick in the second half.

A goal seven minutes from time by Olivier Giroud earned Montpellier a 1-0 victory at Nice on Saturday night that temporarily took Rene Girard’s side top of the table.

Montpellier are now second, a point ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, who moved up to third with a 2-1 win at home to third-bottom Caen.

Rennes are level on points with PSG in fourth after beating former leaders Brest 2-1 in the Brittany derby, while Andre Ayew’s 88th-minute header earned Marseille a 1-0 win at Toulouse that lifted the champions up to fifth.

Marseille have a game in hand at home to Rennes, which will take place at Stade Velodrome on December 1.