PSG pegged back by stubborn St-Étienne

Paris Saint-Germain FC missed the chance to make a bad weekend much worse for their rivals after letting a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw at AS Saint-Étienne.

Second-placed Olympique Lyonnais suffered a shock loss to SC Bastia yesterday after Olympique de Marseille had been held 0-0 by AC Ajaccio on Friday, and PSG knew a win against Les Verts would send them seven points clear. They looked on course to take maximum advantage, too, when Javier Pastore stole in to clip the visitors in front and Zlatan Ibrahimović coolly chipped in a retaken penalty just 19 minutes in.

Caught flat-footed, however, PSG's Alex bundled a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cross into his own net to give St-Étienne a lifeline before the break. François Clerc then levelled the scores with 18 minutes remaining, pouncing on a loose ball on the right of the box and guiding it expertly into the far top corner with the outside of his right boot.

Also on Sunday, OGC Nice tasted defeat for the second time in three Ligue 1 outings when they went down 1-0 at bottom club AS Nancy-Lorraine. Les Aiglons would have climbed into third with a win, but Djamel Bakar's first-half strike dented their stirring season and secured only Nancy's third home success this term. Elsewhere, the Derby de la Garonne between Toulouse FC and FC Girondins de Bordeaux ended goalless.