Paris Saint-Germain moved into second place in the French championship with a 2-1 win over Saint-Etienne. This fourth successive league victory put them just a point behind leaders Lyon. Mamadou Sakho, who celebrated his 19th birthday on Friday, gave PSG a 26th-minute lead, before Dimitri Payet levelled seven minutes later. But Jeremy Clement headed in the winner from Ludovic Guily's pinpoint cross ten minutes before the interval.

Girondins Bordeaux squandered two precious points in their bid for the French title when Grenoble's Bostjan Cesar struck the leveller to hold Laurent Blanc's side to a 1-1 draw. Bordeaux had played all but the final 20 minutes of the match without influential attacker Yoann Gourcuff, as Blanc elected not to start him afterthe playmaker featured in all 90 minutes for his country in France's 2-0 midweek friendly loss to Argentina.

Morroccan forward Marouane Chamakh headed Bordeaux into the lead in the 60th minute. But Cesar struck back with a quarter of an hour remaining to leave Bordeaux three points behind seven-time champions Lyon, who can extend their advantage with success over bottom club Le Havre tomorrow. Bordeaux, beaten at Marseille's Velodrome last weekend, slipped into third thanks to PSG's win. Laurent Blanc believes his side got what they deserved.

"We had trouble against a Grenoble side that played well according to its ability and which was compact. Against teams like that, if you delay in opening the score you're in difficulty," said the former France international. "We have to be aware that we hardly put this side into difficulty, and what upsets me is that we weren't able to hold on to our lead."

Elsewhere, Lille's hopes of a place in Europe next season took a hit with a 2-0 loss to ailing Auxerre. Goals from Ireneusz Jelen and Kamel Chafni settled the game late in the first half to leave Lille in seventh spot on 39 points, with Rennes inheriting sixth place thanks to a 1-1 result with Nancy.

The match between Caen and Lorient also ended 1-1, while Mahamae Traore came up with the winner one minute from time in Nice's 2-1 victory at Le Mans. Both teams ended up with ten men after the red cards were issued to Le Mans' Gregory Cerdan and Nice's Loic Remy for fighting.

Valenciennes moved up a place to third from the foot of the table with a 1-1 draw against Nantes. Aside from Lyon and Le Havre, tomorrow's other games include Marseille at Monaco and Toulouse at Sochaux.