Lyon win derby

The influential playmaker netted the winner from close-range to give the French champions their ninth consecutive victory in all competitions.

The hosts had taken the lead when midfielder Tiago flicked home from six metres to beat goalkeeper Jeremie Janot in the 65th minute.

But St Etienne hit back three minutes later through midfielder Yohan Hautcoeur who had his shot from 20 metres deflected into the net by defender Eric Abidal.

In a nailbiting finale, Janot saved an 82nd minute penalty from Juninho after a foul by defender Lamine Diatta on striker Florent Malouda. Diatta was sent off and St Etienne finished with 10 men.

Juninho said: "After I missed the penalty, I was very disappointed. It has only happened me once before. I told myself I had to grab another chance to score and I did it."

It was Lyon's seventh victory over their neighbours in their last eight matches and they now have a six-point gap over second-placed Olympique Marseille who are away at Racing Lens on Sunday.

St Etienne are fourth on 14 points, 11 behind Lyon.

"The victory is deserved as we played a great second half," Lyon manager Gerard Houllier said. "We really fought for this win."

Toulouse scored three times in the first 30 minutes to thump Valenciennes 3-0, a victory which sent them up to the fourth. Striker Laurent Battles put his side in front on nine minutes before Fode Manare and Albin Ebondo found the net to put the issue beyond doubt.

Troubled PSG, who fired their former France international Vikash Dhorasoo in midweek, crushed Sedan 4-2 thanks to a superb second half performance.

Ironically, the Parisians played with more will and inspiration when they were down to 10 men following the sending off of striker Pierre-Alain Frau two minutes from the interval.

Frau, who opened the scoring in the sixth minute, was shown the red card for a late tackle on Stephane Noro in the 43rd.

Colombian defender Mario Yepes found the net early in the second half and veteran Portuguese number nine Pedro Pauleta struck twice to wrap it up, leaving PSG 12th in the table.

Girondins Bordeaux prepared for Wednesday's Champions League match against Liverpool with a 1-0 home win over struggling Monaco, Edixon Perea scoring in the 70th minute.

Bordeaux are fifth in the standings on 15 points. Sochaux sunk bottom club Nantes 2-0 thanks to goals by Rabiu Afolabi and Alvaro Santos.