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France round-up: Draw puts Auxerre back on top

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AJ Auxerre regained pole position on Sunday, despite being held to a 1-1 at home by AS Monaco FC.

AJ Auxerre regained pole position in the French first division on Sunday, despite being held to a 1-1 at home by AS Monaco FC.

Benjani on fire
Benjani, the early season scoring sensation in Le Championnat, gave Auxerre the lead after 16 minutes; the 24-year-old Zimbabwean striker rising high above the Monaco defence to blast the ball just under the crossbar from a perfect free-kick by Khalilou Fadiga.

Nonda equaliser
But the Auxerre players, who looked tired after their 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Arsenal FC in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, allowed Monaco to come back into the game in the second half. Coach Guy Roux's side paid the price in the 68th minute when Shabani Nonda headed in the equaliser from Jerome Rothen's centre.

'Lost our rhythm'
Roux was in philosophical mood after the match, saying: "I don't want to use the Champions League as an excuse. We lost our rhythm in the middle of the second half and allowed an equaliser but Monaco are going through a good patch and it's not a shame to draw with them."

Clear of Nice
Auxerre are now on 21 points, one clear of promoted OGC Nice who had provisionally claimed joint top spot with a 2-0 win over SC Bastia on Saturday.

Five-star PSG
Paris Saint-Germain FC moved into third place with a convincing 5-0 victory over En Avant Guingamp. The capital club's South American brigade destroyed Guinguamp in some style, scoring four goals in the first half-hour. Brazilian Paulo Cesar broke the deadlock from the edge of the box in the 12th minute, before his compatriot Aloisio blasted the second from close range three minutes later.

Convincing win
The same player made it 3-0 by wrong-footing the goalkeeper in the 24th minute and Argentinian Martin Cardetti added the fourth with a powerful strike on the half-hour. PSG slackened the pace in the second half but Paulo Cesar added the fifth from an Aloisio centre in the 62nd minute.

Bordeaux held
In Sunday's other match, FC Girondins de Bordeaux twice led before eventually only earning a point in a 2-2 home draw against CS Sedan-Ardennes. Pedro Pauleta opened the scoring after five minutes, but David Tommaso levelled matters five minutes later. Pauleta scored his second of the evening shortly after the hour, before Alain Liri pounced with 14 minutes remaining to earn Sedan a share of the spoils.

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