Lille frustrated by Lens draw

By Chris Burke

Second-placed LOSC Lille Métropole are now three points behind leaders Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 after RC Lens held them to a 1-1 draw.

Honours even
Lyon drew 0-0 with Paris Saint-Germain FC last night and Lens went ahead in first-half stoppage time when Olivier Thomert shot low past Tony Sylva and it took a Christophe Landrin free-kick on 58 minutes to bring Lille level. However, Lens have now gone twelve matches without a victory and are 16th in the table.

Strasbourg surprise 
AJ Auxerre could have closed the gap on the top two but lost 3-1 at lowly RC Strasbourg, who moved out of the relegation zone. Yacine Abdessadki struck twice either side of a Mamadou Niang goal, with Luigi Pieroni grabbing the consolation for Guy Roux's team.

Meriem joy 
Auxerre drop back to fourth, just ahead of FC Girondins de Bordeaux, who saw new French international Camel Meriem score in a 1-0 win away at FC Nantes Atlantique. Olympique de Marseille drop to seventh after a 2-0 defeat at relegation-threatened AC Ajaccio, both goals coming from Brazilian summer signing André Luiz.

Bastia slide
A strike from Nicolas Dieuze on 67 minutes gave Toulouse FC all the points against SC Bastia. Meanwhile, AS Saint-Etienne improved their survival chances by beating Stade Rennais FC 1-0 at home thanks to a late header from Lilian Compan.

Goalless draws
The two other games both finished 0-0. Anthony Deroin missed a penalty for SM Caen against OGC Nice, while bottom side FC Istres again failed to register a first win in their match with FC Metz.