Ligue 1 round-up, September 20

A new week, a new blog, and new leaders of Ligue 1, with St Etienne having taken over top spot thanks to a 3-0 win over Montpellier.

Dimitri Payet has been in prolific form so far this season, and took his total to six goals in six games with a well-taken brace. Sandwiched between Payet's double like a particularly tasty piece of salami, Emmanuel Riviere's fine header confirmed Les Verts' dominance. Former leaders Toulouse, meanwhile, were drawing 0-0 with Monaco in a match which won't live long in the memory.

If St Etienne and Toulouse have both started the season like a train, Lyon have begun like one of those ropey old rail replacement buses that trundle between provincial stations at a snail's pace every Sunday. Bordeaux, themselves not in great shape, inflicted more pain on Claude Puel's charges by beating them 2-0 on Sunday. Alou Diarra headed in Jaroslav Plasil's free kick to open the scoring, before Jussie wrapped up the victory in stoppage time with a cool finish. Not a happy return then for Yohan Gourcuff, who left Bordeaux for Lyon in the summer and was roundly booed by the home crowd.

Champions Marseille are beginning to find some form at last, and hammered bottom club Arles 3-0, with Andre Ayew scoring twice. In fairness Emile Heskey would probably find some form if he came up against Arles, who remain bottom without a point to their name. The other big winners of the weekend were Souchaux, who remain fifth after thumping Nice 4-0.

Like Arles, second from bottom Auxerre remain winless, but looked set to claim their fifth draw in six games against Lille before Moussa Sow's late goal gave the home side victory, lifting them to sixth in the table.

Results

Sunday September 19: Bordeaux 2-0 Lyon, Lille 1-0 Auxerre, Paris SG 0-0 Rennes
Saturday September 18: Arles 0-3 Marseille, Lorient 0-1 Caen, Monaco 0-0 Toulouse, Nancy 0-2 Brest, Sochaux 4-0 Nice, St Etienne 3-0 Montpellier, Valenciennes 1-1 Lens.