Auxerre beats Le Mans 2-1 in French league

Mar 20, 2010 - 10:28 PM By TRUNG LATIEULE Associated Press Writer

PARIS(AP) -- Auxerre beat Le Mans 2-1 with a stoppage-time goal from Benoit Pedretti to take the provisional lead in the French league and put pressure on Bordeaux.

Pedretti scored the winner in the first minute of injury time after taking a pass from Dennis Oliech.

Poland forward Ireneusz Jelen had given Auxerre the lead in the 25th minute, tapping home a cross from Oliech for his 10th goal of the season. Thorstein Helstad equalized for Le Mans with a header in the 89th.

"We made perhaps a mistake with our marking for the equalizer," Auxerre coach Jean Fernandez told Europe 1 radio. "We were telling ourselves that it was stupid to concede a goal in the last minute.

"But we didn't give up. We took advantage of the momentum which has been carrying us in our last few matches. If we continue that good run, why not a European spot at the end of the season?"

Auxerre has 55 points from 29 matches, two clear of Bordeaux which has played two fewer games. Montpellier is level on points with Bordeaux, followed by Lille and Lyon which have 51 points each.

Le Mans dropped to 19th place with 21 points.

Also Saturday it was: Boulogne 2, Lorient 0; Rennes 4, Toulouse 1; Grenoble 0, Monaco 0; Nice 1, Paris Saint-Germain 0; Saint-Etienne 0, Nancy 0; and Lens 0, Sochaux 0.

In Boulogne, Damien Marcq dribbled past goalkeeper Fabien Audard to score the opener in the 13th. The host made it 2-0 in the 52nd with an own goal from Lorient defender Laurent Koscielny, who deflected a shot from Olivier Kapo into his own net.

Lorient slipped to ninth place with 43 points while Boulogne kept alive its chances of escaping relegation, narrowing the gap to the safety zone to six points.

Rennes started its rout when Petter Hansson headed a freekick into the top corner to put the host ahead in the 31st. Asamoah Gyan doubled the lead in the 35th on a counterattack, and the Ghana forward then netted his 12th goal of the season to make it 3-0 from close range after a pass from Jimmy Briand in the 46th.

Daniel Braaten pulled a goal back for mid-table Toulouse with a curling shot in the 51st before Jires Kembo-Ekoko sealed the win for Rennes in the 91st with a powerful strike.

Rennes jumped to seventh place with 46 points.

In Grenoble, the host held on to earn a point despite going down to 10 men after goalkeeper Jody Viviani was sent off for handling the ball outside his area in the 80th. Grenoble remained in last place with 15 points while Monaco moved into eighth place with 44 points.

Nice also improved its chances of staying in the top flight after Loic Remy netted his 11th goal of the season with a header in the 79th from a cross by Anthony Mounier.

The match was played behind closed doors as the French league decided to punish Nice for the behavior of its supporters, who ran across the pitch in January to clash with Monaco fans.

Nice stayed in 16th place with 32 points but moved closer to securing safety whereas PSG remained in 12th place with 37 points.

On Sunday, Bordeaux hosts Lille, Montpellier faces Valenciennes and Lyon visits Marseille.