Le Mans' impressive campaign in Ligue 1 continued as they beat leaders Lyon 1-0.
Lyon upset by Le Mans, St Etienne beat Nancy
Le Mans' impressive campaign in Ligue 1 continued as they beat leaders Lyon 1-0.
With one eye on the UEFA Champions League clash with Manchester United on Wednesday, Lyon boss rested star striker Karim Benzema.
And
Lyon's lack of cutting edge up-front cost them as
Le Mans grabbed the win with a late goal.
Brazilian Tulio De Melo grabbed the goal as he converted Ibrahima Camara's cross.
Nancy in third missed the chance to close on second placed Bordeaux as they were soundly beaten at
St Etienne.
Loic Perrin fired Les Verts ahead after just 17 minutes, before Bafetimbi Gomis doubled their advantage before the break.
Pascal Feindouno (72) dispatched a penalty and Gomas added his second just a minute later to seal the victory.
Fourth placed
Nice missed the chance to go level on points with Nancy as they drew 0-0 at
Lens.
Bottom-of-the table
Metz grabbed only their second as they came from behind to beat
Valenciennes 2-1 at the Stade Saint Symphorien.
Djamel Belmadi put Valenciennes ahead late in the first-half, but Metz responded well in the second-half as Babacar Gueye (52) leveled.
The winner came just after the hour when Williams Martinez put through his own net.
Lorient climbed into sixth after a 1-0 win over
Strasbourg. The only goal of the game came in first-half injury time as Ulrich Le Pen fired home.
Auxerre eased their relegation worries with a 1-0 win over
Toulouse - who remain three points off safety.
Auxerre sealed at the Abbe Deschamps thanks to Daniel Niculae's goal five minutes in the second period.
Lille climbed into 14th just underneath Auxerre after they defeated
Rennes 3-1.
Patrick Kluivert's brace (43 pen & 54) set up the victory for Lille and Michel Fernandes Bastos sealed the victory with his goal before the hour.
Jerome Leroy added a consolation in the final minute for Rennes - who sit just one place above the bottom three.
Sochaux are six points off safety at the bottom after they drew 1-1 with
Caen at the Stade Bonal.
Nicolas Maurice-Belay put Sochaux ahead just before the break, but the home side could not hang on as the highly-rated Yoan Gouffran leveled ten-minutes into the second-half.
Auxerre 1-0 Toulouse
Le Mans 1-0 Lyon
Lens 0-0 Nice
Lille 3-1 Rennes
Lorient 1-0 Strasbourg
Metz 2-1 Valenciennes
Sochaux 1-1 Caen
St Etienne 4-0 AS Nancy
