PARIS, Jan 13: A stunning three goal opening burst by Monaco eased them to a 4-1 thrashing of Troyes on Wednesday, including a superb double by Argentinian Marcelo Gallardo, and extended their lead in the title race to seven points, reports AFP.

Monaco, who were 3-0 up within 11 minutes against a side unbeaten in their previous six matches, lead Lyon by seven points and Paris Saint Germain by eight after the latter two fought out a 2-2 draw on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday champions Bordeaux' hopes of retaining their title suffered another blow with a 2-1 defeat at Metz leaving them 15 points adrift of Monaco.

Monaco, with only one defeat in their last 10 matches destroyed Troyes hopes of causing an upset with their stunning opening blitz.

Ludovic Giuly completed the amazing opening salvo by the leaders chipping the keeper beautifully from 20 metres to give them a 3-0 lead.

Gallardo had doubled the score sliding in at the far post after Simone's low cross had evaded a static Troyes defence and added the fourth with an instinctive shot after good work by Trezeguet.

Simone had opened the scoring with a superb curling effort from 25 metres out in the fifth minute for his 14th of the season after the lay-off from striker partner David Trezeguet, who created the third for Giuly as well.

The battle between Troyes' fellow First Division newboys went to Sedan, who fought off a fierce fightback by St Etienne to leap into fifth place with a 3-2 win.

St Etienne didn't help themselves as they went 1-0 down when 'keeper Jerome Alonzo spilled the ball from a Sedan freekick and Geir Frigard pounced to prod the ball home.

Sedan doubled their advantage before the break as Pierre Deblock scored from long range and then captain Olivier Quint added a third before 'Les Verts' mounted a stirring comeback.

They reduced the lead within a minute of Sedan's third and within minutes Julien Sable's fierce shot from just outside the area had left Sedan with just a goal advantage.

Marseille's desperate season showed no sign of an upturn despite a clear-out of players in the mid-season break as they were held 0-0 by Bastia and also had one of their newboys Jerome Leroy sent-off in the second-half.

Longtime tailenders Montpellier got their first win in the league since September with a 3-0 win over Nantes.

Midfielder Philippe Delaye opened their account as he burst through a sleepy Nantes defence and put the ball into the net in the 25th minute for his sixth goal of the season.

Montpellier extended the lead when Cameroon international midfielder Marcel Mahouve, who was a doubtful starter as he should be with his national squad preparing for the African Nations Cup, 25 metre effort took a wicked deflection off Nicolas Savinaud and looped over 'keeper Mickael Landreau.

Striker Frederic Garny wrapped up the three points with less than 10 minutes to go as he scored from close range with Landreau in no mans land.

Nancy ensured that Lens stayed firmly in the relegation zone as Jerome Botelin netted following Cedric Lecluse's cheeky chip over the defence and the 1998 champions headache was compounded when inspirational midfielder Olivier Dacourt exited with what appeared to be a serious injury.

Lyon fought back from 2-0 down to gain themselves an invaluable away point Tuesday at Paris Saint Germain.

PSG's Brazilian striker Christian opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a close-range tap-in after good lead-up work by Ali Bernarbia and Igor Yanovski.

Laurent Robert then made it 2-0 after 60 minutes when a penalty was awarded after Lyon defender Cedric Uras handled in the area.

Lyon bitterly contested the decision, but the unflappable Robert coolly slotted the spot kick home.

Lyon struck back, however, as their former Monaco and Barcelona Brazilian hotshot Sonny Anderson reduced the margin with a header 11 minutes from the end and then Tony Vairelles scored with a low shot at the far post after a corner to make it 2-2 with just two minutes remaining.