The five time titleholders were behind after just five minutes thanks to some moderate defending which left Julien Faubert free to head home Johan Micoud's perfectly delivered free kick from close range.

Set-piece specialist Juninho went within a sliver of levelling shortly after only for his explosive 25m freekick to hit the crossbar with Bordeaux keeper Ulrich Rame beaten.

Referee Stephane Bre then dished out three yellow cards in the space of seconds to Lyon's Fred for a suspect challenge on Marc Planus, with Bordeaux duo Marouane Chamakh and Rio Mavuba the next names entered in his book.

After a sluggish start Lyon found their momentum and were finally rewarded for their aggressive pursuit of an equaliser when former Chelsea star Tiago's shot from outside the box was deflected past Bordeaux skipper Rame by Fred in the 27th minute.

After the break France international Gregory Coupet dealt with two live chances for the home side, the first a shot from inside the box from Johan Micoud, the second a header from Chamakh.

Down at the other end Rame could only turn away a powerful 30m shot from Juninho with Francois Clerc unable to do much with the rebound.

Houllier then worked his magic, the former Liverpool boss bringing on new signing Kim Kallstrom for Juninho and Karim Benzema for Fred in an attempt to break the gridlock.

And the two new faces repaid the vote of confidence when they were at the heart of a fine counter attack from the halfway line climaxing in a low header from former Bordeaux player Sylvain Wiltord flying past Rame to earn Lyon the spoils five minutes from time.

The win lifted Houllier's men into second on goal difference from Marseille, 3-0 winners over Auxerre 24 hours earlier.

Franck Ribery, who had flirted with a move to champions Lyon before committing his immediate future to Marseille, was at the heart of the slumbering south coast giants' victory.

The terrier-like midfielder, who shot to prominence helping France to the World Cup final in Germany this summer, opened his account for the season with Marseille's opener on 45 minutes.

Toifilou Maoulida put Marseille further ahead four minutes after the break with Mickael Pagis completing the good work late on.

"It's a relief to have scored this evening," said Ribery, nicknamed 'Scarface' as his face bears the legacy of a horrific car accident in his youth.

Auxerre are still looking for their first win of the new campaign and their cause was not helped here with Kanga Akale's 51st minute sending off for hitting Ronald Zubar.

Ribery, in reference to his rocky early season relationship with the Velodrome supporters since his return after the World Cup, reflected: "I've had some difficult days. But now, things are going fine with the fans.

The relief was almost palpable at Parc des Princes where Paris Saint Germain bagged their first victory of the fledgling campaign, a 1-0 affair over Lille with Portuguese international Pedro Pauleta producing the 60th minute winner.

Le Mans moved up into third after a 3-2 triumph over newly promoted Valenciennes, but former Champions League finalists Monaco were held 1-1 away to Rennes.

In Sunday's early game Toulouse beat Nice 1-0, with defender Jeremy Mathieu bagging the winner on the stroke of half-time.