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After almost a month break extended French championship battles - the matches of the 20th round were played. Having experienced an unexpected first season failure in the middle of December, the lonely leader of the competition "Lyon" bounced back with a crushing victory, while "Auxerre", "P.S.G" and "Lille" clubs gained advantage in the intense battle for prize places by winning their matches.
"Lyon" ended the year at home by losing to the "Lille" team and experiencing the first season failure not only in the league, but also in all tournaments in general. However, after the winter break, the reigning winter champions left no hope for the outsider "Strasbourg" and crushed them with a score of 4-0. Sylvain Wiltord stood out with a hat-trick for the victorious side, while defender Jeremy Berthod added one goal.
"Auxerre" climbed to second place by defeating the "Monaco" team in important matches at home. The visitors took the lead in the 29th minute with Marco Di Vaio scoring in his debut for the team, but Peguy Luyindula soon equalized, and the victory for the hosts was sealed by a goal from Thomo Kahlenberg in the second half.
In the tournament table, the third position is held by "P.S.G" - the capital club overcame resistance of "Sochaux" with a 3-1 result, while the fourth place is shared by "Lille", also winning with a two-goal margin at home against "Ajaccio". "Lens" team has the same points as "Lille", having played a draw with "Marseille", and the "Bordeaux" club finished their match against "Nancy" with no goals.
"Saint-Ettiene" club failed to rise higher, recovering at home after missing a goal, but unable to defeat the "Troyes" team, while "Rennes" and "Le Mans" achieved victories with equal scores and moved closer to the top nine.
After this round, the situation in the championship is such that only 5 points separate the 2nd place from the 10th place, so almost half of the league clubs still have chances to fight for prize places. However, "Lyon" seems increasingly out of reach and unstoppable from the pursuers.
All 20 round results:
- 0 - 4
6` [0 - 1] Sylvain Wiltord
42` [0 - 2] Jeremy Berthod
56` [0 - 3] Sylvain Wiltord
73` [0 - 4] Sylvain Wiltord - 2 - 0
37` [1 - 0] Peter Odemwingie
90` [2 - 0] Daniel Gygax - 2 - 0
62` [1 - 0] Tulio
90` [2 - 0] Tulio - 0 - 0
- 2 - 1
8` [1 - 0] Bakary Kone
26` [2 - 0] Marama Vahirua
85` [2 - 1] Issou Malia Dao - 1 - 1
32` [0 - 1] Sebastien Grax
52` [1 - 1] Vincent Hognon - 0 - 2
30` [0 - 1] Etienne Didot
70` [0 - 2] John Utaka - 3 - 1
27` [1 - 0] Christophe Landrin
55` [1 - 1] Badara Sene
58` [2 - 1] Fabrice Pancrate
73` [3 - 1] Pedro Pauleta - 1 - 1
3` [1 - 0] Habib Beye
77` [1 - 1] Vitorino Hilton - 2 - 1
29` [0 - 1] Marco Di Vaio
34` [1 - 1] Peguy Luyindula
57` [2 - 1] Thomas Kahlenberg
Tournament table
