Lyon confident ahead of Montpellier match

PARIS (AP) -Three days after moving into first place in the French league, Lyon will take on defending champion Montpellier on Saturday.

Lyon beat Marseille 4-1 on Wednesday and moved ahead of both Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the standings.

Bafetimbi Gomis, who scored his first hat trick in the league against Marseille, said the squad now needs to stay grounded.

"We saw what happened three days ago against Toulouse,'' Gomis said, referring to the team's previous match, a 3-0 loss. "It's up to us to have the humility we need to prove ourselves in the next match against Montpellier, which is never an easy team to play against.''

Also Saturday, PSG travels to Nice, while Marseille plays at Brest on Sunday.

PSG beat struggling Troyes 4-0 on Saturday but was eliminated from the French League Cup on Tuesday after losing to Saint-Etienne on penalties.

"Congratulations to them,'' PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi said. "We're going to focus on our main objective, which is the league. We are disappointed because we deserved to come back to Paris with the qualification. I think that on the whole we had a good game, really solid.''

Marseille is level on points with PSG but has now only won two of its past 11 games in all competitions.

"It was a very difficult night,'' Marseille coach Elie Baup said about the loss to Lyon. "A horrible night. I have to focus on the next match now, we have to move on and lift up our heads. We have to go get something at Brest. We need a reaction.

"Our position in the standings is one thing but what's important is the number of points. We have to react and head to the winter break with the desire to win the maximum of points.''

Saint-Etienne is one point behind PSG and Marseille - and three behind Lyon - after a run of nine games without a loss. It visits struggling Ajaccio on Friday.

Bordeaux slipped to fifth after losing at Montpellier 1-0 and hosts Sochaux on Saturday. Also Saturday, it's: Evian vs. Nancy; Lille vs. Bastia; and Valenciennes vs. Reims.

On Sunday, it's: Troyes vs. Rennes; and Lorient vs. Toulouse.