Monaco edge Lyon as ref leaves his mark

Paris: Monaco beat Lyon 3-2 in a game marked by a series of dubious calls from the referee who later conceded all Monaco`s goals resulted from off-side situations.

This contentious win at Lyon`s Stade Gerland lifted Claudio Ranieri`s side to within five points of Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint Germain, who take on Saint Etienne in Sunday`s late game. For Lyon this result ended a five-match unbeaten run in the league and the former multiple French champions remain in fifth place. Lyon, for the third match in a row, conceded a goal in the opening 10 minutes, this time Valere Garmain inflicting the damage after four minutes. This was the first of referee Freddy Fautrel`s mistakes as Garmain was set up by Dimitar Berbatov`s back pass, with the Bulgarian striker clearly offside. James Rodriguez doubled up for Monaco who once again was sent on his way by Berbatov in an off-side position after a cross from the right from Mounir Obbadi. A dozen minutes after the restart Berbatov, clearly offside when he picked up a cross, scored from close range. Lyon had pulled one back after the half hour when Miguel Lopes on the right flank found Jimmy Briand, who gave Lyon hope of salvaging a point with 12 minutes left on the clock with his second. Fautrel held his hands up to a bad day at the office, declaring: "We (he and his assistants) recognise mistakes were made by the refereeing team - three goals were off-side. "I`ve got other bad memories of course but tonight is a very bad memory for me and my colleagues." Lyon coach Remi Garde said: "I`m disappointed that the players weren`t rewarded for their enthusiasm and solidarity and courage. "I`m not going to talk about the referee as I`d risk being banned." Ranieri commented: "As for the refereeing I think it was very hard today for us and for Lyon. But when a team scores three goals away from home it deserves to win." Earlier Montpellier held Bordeaux to a 1-1 draw. Having sealed their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in midweek, Paris Saint-Germain will hope to get the better of bogey team Saint-Etienne in Sunday`s late action. On Saturday Lille let slip a chance to cement their claims on Champions League football next season when held to a goalless draw at home by Nantes. And on Friday Reims and Marseille drew 1-1 in a result that did neither side`s European qualification aspirations any good.