France round-up: Contenders creep up on Lens

Olympique Lyonnais closed the gap at the top of Le Championnat to four points as leaders RC Lens slipped up for the second straight week.

Lyon struggle through
Lyon made hard work of beating lowly FC Lorient but eventually broke the deadlock in the second half through Sonny Anderson and substitute Pegguy Luyindula added a late strike for a 2-0 win.

Lens held by Sedan
Lens, who had gone down 2-1 to FC Girondins de Bordeaux last weekend, nearly came unstuck again at CS Sedan-Ardennes as Pius N'Diefi opened the scoring after 13 minutes but Ferdinand Coly rescued a point eight minutes from time but with four games left are in by no means as comfortable a position at the top as they were.

PSG triumph
Paris Saint-Germain FC and AJ Auxerre maintained their drive for a UEFA Champions League place with hard-fought wins at En Avant Guingamp and Lille OSC respectively. Fabrice Fiorese's 17th-minute effort proved the difference for PSG to leave them six points behind Lens.

Auxerre overcome Lille
Auxerre are six points adrift of Lens with two games in hand after edging out LOSC in a thrilling clash which ended with both sides down to ten men. Auxerre fell behind to an own goal from Dagui Bakari in the 15th minute, but Bakari made amends with the equaliser just before the interval. Djibril Cissé restored the lead, but after Amdy Faye was dismissed for a second bookable offence the home side levelled through Bruno Cheyrou. In stoppage time Auxerre grabbed an unlikely winner when Lionel Mathis pounced. LOSC's Christophe Landrin then received his marching orders for foul and abusive language.

Bastia enjoy a win
Elsewhere, SC Bastia did their hopes of avoiding relegation a power of good with a 3-0 defeat of Montpellier Hérault SC. The home side, just four points clear of the drop zone with five games remaining, never looked back after racing into a two-goal lead through Damian Manso and Tony Vairelles and Fabrice Jau wrapped up the points with his side's third a minute before time.

Metz win at home
FC Metz moved off the bottom of the table with a shock 2-0 victory at home to FC Sochaux-Montbéliard to boost their own hopes of beating the drop. Metz opened the scoring through Christophe Bastien's header and Gerald Baticle added a second after the break.

Nantes beat local rivals
Goals from Nestor Ariel Fabbri, Pierre-Yves André and Marama Vahirua gave FC Nantes Atlantique a 3-1 win over local rivals Stade Rennais FC, who had levelled through Makhtar N'Diaye. Meanwhile, Nicolas Gousse's late double almost certainly ended Bordeaux's slim title hopes as ES Troyes Aube Champagne snatched a 2-0 win at the Stade de l'Aube.