Lyon edges Caen 1-0 in French league

PARIS (AP) -- Lyon edged Caen 1-0 for the defending champion to keep the lead in the French league at the winter break on Saturday for the fifth straight season.

France striker Karim Benzema took a pass from Argentine forward Carlos Delgado and unleashed a powerful strike into the top corner in the 43rd minute for his 10th league goal this season.

Lyon has 38 points from 19 matches and history on its side.

In the previous four seasons when it had the lead at the winter break, Lyon went on to win the title.

Meanwhile, Rennes rallied past Lorient 2-1 with goals from Asamoah Gyan and Moussa Sow to stretch its unbeaten streak to 17 games and move into second place with 34 points.

Jeremy Morel gave Lorient the lead in the 45th by scoring off a poor clearance from the Rennes defense, but Gyan equalized for Rennes with a header off a cross from Sow in the 74th.

Sow then collected a pass from Mickael Pagis in the 81st to chip the ball over goalkeeper Fabien Audard and tuck the ball into the empty net.

Elsewhere, it was: Toulouse 2, Nice 2; Lille 3, Le Havre 1; Grenoble 2, Le Mans 1; Saint-Etienne 2, Auxerre 0; and Nantes 1, Sochaux 1.

In Lille, Ludovic Obraniak surged at the near post to flick home a cross by Brazilian midfielder Michel Bastos in the 30th. Hassan Alla equalized for Le Havre in the 61st with a 25-meter (yard) free kick that deflected off the Lille wall, but Yohan Cabaye volleyed home a corner kick in the 81st to make it 2-1 for Lille.

Bastos added a third goal in injury time to seal the win, raising his tally to nine goals this season and giving the team 32 points, the same as Marseille, Bordeaux and Paris Saint-Germain.

In Toulouse, Anthony Modeste slipped the ball past goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso to put Nice ahead in the seventh, but Andre-Pierre Gignac beat the offside trap to level for Toulouse in the 32nd with an angled shot.

The Toulouse forward's 12th goal this season in the 85th gave his team a 2-1 lead and consolidated his spot as league top scorer. Vincent Hognon nodded in a corner kick in stoppage time to salvage a draw for Nice.

Toulouse slipped to seventh place with 31 points while Nice remained eighth with 30.

In Grenoble, Cameroon midfielder Albert Baning converted a rebound after a header from Franck Dja Djedje struck the post in the 34th.

Sandy Paillot headed in a corner kick from Laurent Batlles to double the lead for mid-table Grenoble in the 46th.

Mali international Modibo Maiga pulled one goal back for Le Mans in the 54th, scoring from close range after goalkeeper Ronan Le Crom stopped a shot from Gervinho. But Grenoble snapped an eight-game winless streak.

In Saint-Etienne, Portuguese midfielder Paulo Machado fired home a low shot in the 12th.

Bafetimbi Gomis doubled the lead for Saint-Etienne on a counterattack in the 89th with a lob.

In Nantes, Aurelien Capoue leveled for the hosts with a half-volley in the 86th after Turkey forward Mevlut Erding beat Nantes goalkeeper Jerome Alonzo in the 69th to put Sochaux ahead.

On Sunday, Marseille hosts Nancy, Paris Saint-Germain plays Valenciennes, and Bordeaux takes on Monaco.

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