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France: Wiltord gives tired Lyon a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux [Sun Sep 18th, 2005]
Paris (Reuters) - A second-half strike by Sylvain Wiltord gave Olympique Lyon a hardly-deserved 1-1 draw at Girondins Bordeaux in a Ligue 1 match.
Lyon extended their unbeaten run to seven games since the start of the season and have 17 points, three more than Le Mans, who beat Sochaux 2-1 at home.
Paris St Germain, who visit St Etienne on Sunday, are third on 13 points, with Bordeaux fifth on goal difference with 12 points.
The French title holders looked tired four days after their stylish 3-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Real Madrid.
Bordeaux, who have title ambitions, went in front thanks to a superb goal from Czech international Vladimir Smicer in the seventh minute.
The former Liverpool player beat two Lyon defenders and fired the ball home from 18 metres, leaving goalkeeper Gregory Coupet no chance.
Lyon had to wait until the 64th minute for the equaliser from Wiltord, who volleyed home a cross by defender Anthony Reveillere.
A possible Bordeaux winner from substitute midfielder Fernando 12 minutes from time was ruled offside.
"It was a tough match. We lacked consistency during the first half but we played much better after the interval," said Lyon coach Gerard Houllier.
BETTER SHAPE
"They were physically in a better shape than we were so I'm pleased with the draw here. We had to fight for it but I would say it's deserved."
Bordeaux's Brazilian coach Ricardo said: "We should have won. I'm not sure the offside decision was right. We should have scored a second goal."
He added: "They hardly had a chance to score while we dominated for most of the match. Now we must be more efficient up front."
Promoted Le Mans maintained their superb early-season form with a deserved victory over struggling Sochaux to stay in touch with Lyon.
Le Mans opened the scoring on the half-hour when midfielder Yohan Hautcoeur slotted home a cross by Daisuke Matsui.
Sochaux equalised after 61 minutes, but Brazilian striker De Melo restored the lead for Le Mans seven minutes later.
Lille rediscovered winning ways after their 1-0 Champions League defeat by Benfica with a 4-0 rout of 10-man Nice.
Jean Makoun put Lille ahead in the fifth minute and substitute Milenko Acimovic, striker Peter Odemwengie and Swiss international Daniel Gygax put the gloss on the win with three goals in 18 minutes late in the second half.
The match was halted for 10 minutes during the second half because of an electricity failure.
"It's a great result and it's what we need at the moment," said midfielder Gregory Tafforeau. "We can do with all the points we can take."
Lille climbed to fourth in the standings with 12 points, ahead of Girondins Bordeaux on goal difference.
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