Fekir hits hat-trick as Lyon thrash Caen

French international Nabil Fekir scored a hat-trick as last season's Ligue 1 runners-up Lyon rumbled to a 4-0 win at Caen and temporarily into third in the French top flight.

Corentin Tolisso helped set up two of Fekir's goals on a day when new signing Mathieu Valbuena was also on display.

Guadaloupean-born 27-year-old Claudio Beauvue was also on the scoresheet as Hubert Fournier's side got back to winning ways following a 2-1 home loss to Rennes last time out.

"The win was important because we are Olympique Lyonnais and to lose twice would already be the beginning of a small crisis so it was good to find some serenity and especially with our offensive players who were great today," said Fournier.

"We messed up against Rennes at home (defeat last week) in a situation when we were not quite up to our level but tonight we scored four goals which doesn't happen to everyone. Things are not yet perfect and we realise that but to win 4-0 is good for our morale." added Fournier.  

Fekir's first came on 18 minutes as he took a pass from Tolisso, beat Damien Da Silva and then shot past goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre.
His second came a minute before the break after he turned Chaker Alhadhur inside out.

Valbuena set up the third on 57 minutes and four minutes from time Beauvue hit a cross-shot from the corner of the area that gave Vercoutre no chance.

Lyon now trail defending champions Paris Saint-Germain by two points, although Laurent Blanc's undefeated capital outfit can restore their lead when they travel to Monaco in the weekend's final match on Sunday.

Caen remain in the top eight, three points behind PSG after two wins and two defeats form four games.

On Friday night, Sloan Privat and Nicolas Benezet gave Guingamp their first goals of the season in a 2-0 win which sent Marseille crashing back to earth.

Marseille had been riding a tide of euphoria since the arrival of new coach Michel with a 6-0 rout of Troyes last weekend following losses in their opening two games, but cold reality hit again in Brittany.

"The rhythm of the game was very fast and the opposition very strong," said Spaniard Michel, who took over after Argentine Marcelo Bielsa quit after the first game of the season.

The 26-year-old Privat had missed a penalty early on but made up by getting his team's first goal after 72 minutes at the Roudourou Stadium with Benezet scoring the second with one minute to go.

Their first points of the season lifted Guingamp off the bottom of the table just behind Marseille who are 13th, also with three points from four games.

Playing later on Saturday, 2012 champions Montpellier travel to Troyes and Herve Renard's Lille entertain promoted GFC Ajaccio.
Source: AFP