Sochaux's bid to beat the drop suffered a body blow as they lost 2-1 at bottom club Le Havre.
Le Havre and Rennes both pick up home wins
Sochaux's bid to beat the drop suffered a body blow as they lost 2-1 at bottom club Le Havre, while Rennes were too strong for Auxerre.
In Sunday's late relegation dogfight St Etienne came out on top on home soil as they beat Nantes 2-1.
Prior to Sunday's clash
Le Havre had picked up just 15 points all season but they showed plenty of spirit in coming from behind to beat ten-man
Sochaux.
Jacques Faty gave Sochaux a dream start when he opened the scoring in the 11th minute but it was a lead they held for just four minutes as Amadou Alassane found a leveller.
Kevin Anin emerged as Le Havre's hero after the interval as he struck a winner before Nicolas Maurice-Belay's red card fifteen minutes from time compounded Sochaux's woes.
Rennes moved up to sixth in the table with a comfortable 2-0 win at home to
Auxerre.
Former Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra broke the deadlock with an eighth minute header before Jimmy Briand made sure of the spoils before half-time.
Ilan Dell'igna was
St Etienne's hero as his brace cancelled out Ivan Klasnic's opener for
Nantes.
Croatian striker Klasnic needed just six minutes to make his mark but it was a short-lived lead as Dell-igna restored parity four minutes later from the penalty spot.
And on the half hour mark he added his second to secure a three-point haul that takes Etienne out of the drop zone.
