Lyon roars to top with win over Le Havre

Associated Press, Paris

Titleholder Lyon moved top of the French first division by beating lowly Le Havre 2-1 on Thursday while former leader Auxerre lost 1-0 to Ajaccio.

French international Eric Carriere opened for Lyon in the 10th minute, beating goalkeeper Alexander Vencel with a right-foot shot.

Le Havre forward Anthony Le Tallec leveled in the 60th but Brazilian defender Claudio Cacapa secured victory for the visitors by scoring six minutes from full time.

Lyon has won four of its last five league matches and leads the first division with 25 points.

Auxerre was on 24 points after its defeat at Ajaccio. Midfielder Walid Regragui netted the winner for the Corsican side one minute from full time.

Both clubs could be overtaken in the next two days.

Nice, which has 23 points, was to receive Monaco on Friday. Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille, both also on 23 points, were to play Sochaux and Guingamp respectively on Saturday.

Meanwhile in Madrid, a 13th-minute goal by Romanian international Laurentiu Rosu earned second-division Numancia a 1- 0 victory over Celta de Vigo and eliminated the top-flight team from the Copa del Rey.

Despite the 88th-minute dismissal of midfielder Manolo Sanchez, Numancia condemned Celta to the same fate as Valencia, Athletic de Bilbao and Malaga, which were knocked out by lower- league opponents in second-round games on Wednesday.

Numancia joins three other second-division teams -- Terrassa, Murcia and Xerez -- in the last 16 of the competition, together with Alicante and Real Union from the third tier of Spanish soccer.

Ten first-division clubs remain -- defending titlist Deportivo de La Coruna, Real Madrid, Mallorca, Real Betis, Valladolid, Atletico de Madrid, Alaves, Osasuna, Sevilla and Recreativo de Huelva.

From the next round, scheduled for Jan. 7, 8 and 9, all pairings will be played over two legs.