Auxerre continues to roll in French League
Last Updated: Saturday, November 7, 2009 | 6:57 PM ET
The Associated Press
Auxerres forward Ireneusz Jelen celebrates after scoring a goal against Le Mans during Saturday's match. (Jean-Francois Monier/Getty Images)Auxerre notched its sixth straight win in beating Le Mans 1-0 and moved above Monaco into third place in French League soccer Saturday.
Auxerre's attacking duo of Daniel Niculae and Irineusz Jelen caused problems throughout the match and they combined to create the winner in the 51st minute.
Coach Jean Fernandez has turned Auxerre's fortunes around in style after a terrible start to the season left the Burgundy club in 19th place with only one point and no goals scored after the first four games.
But Jelen's return has inspired the team and Auxerre has 23 points after 12 rounds, putting it level with Lyon and two points behind leader Bordeaux.
Lyon and Bordeaux have a game in hand and will play Sunday, when Lyon hosts Marseille and Bordeaux travels to Lille.
Monaco missed the chance to pressure Lyon and Bordeaux when it was held to 0-0 at home by Grenoble, ending Grenoble's miserable losing streak and giving the last-place club its first point of the season.
Monaco had several chances to win the match at Stade Louis II, with Grenoble goalkeeper Ronan Le Crom keeping out an effort from Frederic Nimani in the 85th minute and seeing a shot from Mathieu Coutadeur sail just over the crossbar in the 71st.
Monaco trails
The draw leaves Monaco one point behind Auxerre and just one point ahead of fifth-place Lorient, which thumped Boulogne 5-0 thanks to two more goals from its highly rated striker Kevin Gameiro, taking his tally to six this season.
Lens moved out of the relegation zone and into 17th place with a 2-1 win at Sochaux, which dropped to 15th place.
Defender Romain Sartre put Lens ahead in the 38th minute and Razak Boukari added the second Lens goal in the 85th, before Sloan Privat pulled a goal back in injury time for Sochaux.
In Saturday's other results, it was: Valenciennes 1, Montpellier 1; Nancy 0, Saint-Etienne 1; and Paris Saint-Germain 0, Nice 1.
Colombian striker Victor Hugo Montana opened the scoring for Montpellier in the second minute, heading in a cross from Karim Ait Fana. Carlos Sanchez Moreno equalized in the 52nd when he was left with a simple tap-in after Renaud Cohade's shot came back off the crossbar.
Nice caught PSG with a classic counterattack goal at Parc des Princes.
With PSG pushing for a winning goal, midfielder Stephane Sessegnon took a free kick that Nice managed to clear up the field.
The ball broke left to Anthony Mounier and his cross was headed home by France striker Loic Remy. Dimitri Payet got Saint-Etienne's winning goal midway through the second half.
Toulouse faces Rennes in Sunday's other game.
