Auxerre win increases PSG peril

AJ Auxerre managed a morale-boosting 3-0 victory in Ligue 1 against surprise outfit Le Mans UC 72, to leapfrog fellow strugglers Paris Saint-Germain FC after they were beaten at OGC Nice.

Auxerre joy
Auxerre, who began the day third from bottom, moved up two places to 16th as they ended a run of three games without a win by brushing aside Le Mans. The visitors had a chance to rise into the top three with three points but found themselves behind ten minutes before the interval when Kamel Chafni struck. Two goals in the final ten minutes from Daniel Niculae (80) and Ireneusz Jelen (88) then sealed an impressive display for Jean Fernandez's side.

Kone winner
That result meant that PSG needed to get at least a point from their trip to Nice to move back out of the bottom three. They got off to the worst possible start in trying to achieve that aim, when former France international Lilian Laslandes put Nice in front with just eight minutes on the clock. David Ngog restored parity for the capital club just after the half hour but it was a position they could only hold for six minutes as Bakari Kone scored what would turn out to be the winning goal for the south-coast side to lift them above Le Mans into the top five on goal difference.