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Lyon produced a commanding 3-0 victory at Auxerre to go top of Ligue 1.

The seven times champions, trying to regain the title they lost to Bordeaux in May, had kicked off the campaign with a 2-2 draw at Le Mans before beating Valenciennes 1-0.

But Lyon turned on the goal power against Auxerre, with France defender Jean-Alain Boumsong and Cameroon midfielder Jean Makoun putting them 2-0 ahead at the interval before Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic wrapped up the win after the break.

"We were a bit lucky in the first half but we were a lot more efficient in front of goal than against Valenciennes and I liked that," Lyon coach Claude Puel, who had rested several players.

The former champions, who boosted their morale by thumping Anderlecht 5-1 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off on Tuesday, moved into first place, level on seven points with Paris St Germain and Marseille.

PSG won 3-2 at Valenciennes, a club coached last season by the capital side's new manager Antoine Kombouare, while Marseille, who had won their first two matches, had to be content with a 1-1 draw at Stade Rennes.

Rennes opened the scoring with a penalty by midfielder Jerome Leroy in the first half but Marseille earned a point when Senegal striker Mamadou Niang deflected in Benoit Cheyrou's free-kick from close range early in the second half.

"We had some problems and we have some work to do but a point against a good Rennes side is not a bad result," Marseille defender Laurent Bonnart said.

Nancy, who had set the early pace by winning their first two matches with a total of seven goals, suffered a setback in a 2-1 defeat at Le Mans and dropped to fourth place.

Bordeaux will go top and become the only side with maximum points from three games if they beat Nice on Sunday.

Reuters