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Bordeaux beats Le Mans 3-2 to go top in France

Source: Agencies | May 17, 2009, Sunday | Online Edition

BORDEAUX earned the provisional lead in the French league when it beat Le Mans 3-2 for a 10th straight win yesterday.

The win improved Bordeaux to 74 points from 36 rounds, but Marseille will reclaim top spot on goal difference if it beats seven-time defending champion Lyon at Stade Velodrome today. Lyon will surrender its title if it loses.

Lyon was in third place and focused on securing the spot to ensure a place in the Champions League qualifying round ahead of fourth-place Paris Saint-Germain, which lost 2-1 at home to Auxerre at Parc des Princes.

Earlier, Le Mans took the lead through striker Anthony Le Tallec in the 24th minute, but Bordeaux bounced back through Marouane Chamakh in the 38th, and France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff put Les Girondins 2-1 up with his sixth goal in five games.

But Bordeaux struggled to hold out against a slick Le Mans, and Le Tallec scored again in the 55th to make it 2-2 and ensure a nervy second half for Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc's team.

Defender Marc Planus finally scored the winner in the 76th minute from close range after Gourcuff's shot bounced off the post.

At Parc des Princes, PSG again struggled without injured top scorer Guillaume Hoarau and Auxerre continued its remarkable second half of the season with a fifth straight win having struggled early on in the campaign.

PSG's defeat meant it stayed in fourth place with 63 points. Auxerre improved to 52 and was in eighth place.

Coach Jean Fernandez's team took the lead in the 40th minute when Thomas Kahlenberg's long pass released Irineusz Jelen down the left and his shot clipped Zoumana Camara before lobbing over goalkeeper Mickael Landreau.

Landreau was at fault for Auxerre's second goal a minute before halftime when he raced off his line to chase down Jelen, but the Poland striker showed a cool temperament to look up and steer the ball inside Landreau's near post for his 13th league goal of the season and fifth in the last four matches.

PSG got some late hope when Stephane Sessegnon's low shot from the edge of the penalty area took a deflection off Jean-Pascal Mignot and beat goalkeeper Olivier Sorin. Deep into injury time, Sessegnon's header flew just wide.

In other results, it was: Caen 2, Sochaux 0; Grenoble 0, Nancy 0; Saint-Etienne 2, Toulouse 2; Lorient 1, Le Havre 1; and Monaco 1, Valenciennes 1.

Caen got a vital win its bid to avoid relegation with Steve Savidan scoring twice inside the last 15 minutes, while Sochaux replaced Caen in the drop zone.

Saint-Etienne missed a chance to move further away from the relegation zone despite twice taking the lead against a Toulouse side which equalized in the 89th minute through Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Mustapha Bayal Sall put Saint-Etienne ahead in the 34th, but Moussa Sissoko replied for Toulouse in the 66th and Araujo Ilan scored with a penalty to restore the home side's lead in the 73rd. But Saint-Etienne failed to clear a corner and Gignac pounced from close range to grab his league-leading 22nd goal of the season.

At the bottom, Le Havre was already relegated and in last place with 25 points, Nantes was 19th with 33 points and Sochaux was 18th with 36. Saint-Etienne and Caen were one point ahead with 37, while Le Mans had 38.

In today's other games, it is Lille vs. Nice, and Nantes vs. Rennes.

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