Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyon needed two late '^■a . goals to over-

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1 on Sunday.

The score was 1-1 with three minutes left but Brazil defender Cris and France midfielder Florent Malouda struck in quick succession to give Lyon the points.

"That game had the quality of a Champions League match," Lyon coach Gerard Houllier said.

"It's an very good victory for us against an excellent PSG side. They made us work forit".

The five-times champions moved on to 46 points from 17 games, 14 clear of second-placed Racing Lens, who won 1-0 at Toulouse on Saturday.

Lyon opened the scoring just before the end of a tight first half, Sylvain Wiltord deflecting a Juninho

free-kick into the net with a header.

PSG kept fighting in the second half and were rewarded when striker and captain Pauleta levelled with a superb free kick from 20 metres.

The Parisians had set up camp in the French Alps three days before the game to prepare for the challenge.

They lived up to it, giving Lyon a hard time throughout the match, but still lost to drop a spot to 15th, 29 points off the pace.

"We played really well but against Lyon you have to play well until the very last second," Pauleta said. "We badly need a good result. We'll keep fighting for one."

PSG are also facing problems off the pitch following the death of a fan after last month's 4-2 UEFA Cup defeat by Hapoel TelAviv.

Lille lost ground when they were held to a 2-2 home draw by St Etienne in alively match earlier on Sunday.

Lille looked tired four days after their stunning 2-0 win over AC Milan at the San Siro took them through to the knockout stage of the Champions

League.

The northerners stayed third but fell two points behind Lens.

Brazilian forward Ilan opened the scoring for St Etienne from close range on eight minutes and Lille responded through midfielder Mathieu Bodmer on 22 minutes before Ivory Coast forward Kader Keita put them ahead in the 54th.

The home side then appeared to run out of steam and Ilan secured a share of the points for St Etienne with his second goal in the 67th

TOP SIX

Team P W D L GF GA Pts

Lyon 17 15 1 1 35 11 46

Lens 17 9 5 3 26 15 32

Lille 17 8 6 3 26 16 30

Sochaux 17 8 6 3 21 16 30

St Etienne 17 8 4 5 27 21 28

Marseille 17 8 3 6 23 16 27