17.01.2015 19:02 h

Goal-machine Lacazette keeps Lyon top

French strike sensation Alexandre Lacazette scored his 20th goal in 21 league matches so far this season as Lyon made short work of Lens in a 2-0 Ligue 1 away win on Saturday.

This latest victory leaves Lyon clear at the top on 45 points, four clear of Marseille on 41, while Saint Etienne are on 39 and Paris Saint Germain 38, all three play on Sunday against Guingamp, Rennes and Evian respectively.

Lyon have now won 11 of their last 13 league games and Lacazette has been the steel-tipped spearhead of that charge and is on track to eclipse the goals scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, top scorer in the last two Ligue 1 seasons with 30 and 26.

The record is held by the Yugoslav Josip Skoblar who scored 44 for Marseille in 1970-1971.

Lyon always fancied the win against a promoted side who had been banned from the transfer market and languishing second from bottom.

So it was no surprise when Lens' 19-year-old central defender Jean-Philippe Gbamin scored an own goal with an astonishing back heel that left his 'keeper Rudy Riou no chance after 22 minutes.

Nor was it any great surprise when Lacazette stepped up to send Riou the wrong way from the penalty spot after 26 minutes after provoking a defender into handball with his tricky movement inside the box.

Lyon president Jean Michel Aulas described the 23-year-old Lacazette as better than Real Madrid's Welshman Gareth Bale, and claimed he would not sell the centre-forward even if Real dug deep for another 100 million euros.

Paris Saint-Germain welcome back strikers Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani for their home tie with Evian after the pair were punished with three matches of exclusion after coming home late from their Christmas holiday.

PSG last won a league match on December 6 and coach Laurent Blanc, who seems to be under pressure even when his side is winning, has been widely criticised in the press this week.

Marseille lost the league lead last week after months top of the heap when going down 2-1 at Montpellier, but will look for a quick bounce against Guingamp, their cup conquerors the week before, at the Stade Velodrome on Sunday.

On Friday Nice eased their relegation concerns with a shock 2-1 win at high-flying Bordeaux.

The hosts, who could have moved up a place to fifth with victory, made light of their missing Africans on Cup of Nations duty when Diego Rolan opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 33 minutes, after goalkeeper Mouez Hassan was adjudged to have brought down Nicolas Maurice-Belay in the box.

Jordan Amavi equalised midway through the second period with a deflected header from Valentin Eysseric's free-kick.

And Alassane Pleas notched the winner in the final minute from Eric Bautheac's pass to snatch the three points.

Later Saturday Caen host Reims, Lorient take on Lille, Montpellier travel all the way north to Metz, Nantes travel to Monaco and Toulouse await Corsicans Bastia.