European hopefuls Valenciennes and Auxerre played out a goalless stalemate in Ligue 1 on Tuesday, although the hosts will feel aggrieved not to have made the most of their dominance.

The result means the visitors stay a point above their opponents in fifth, while the draw was good enough to move Valenciennes up into sixth. After an opening half hour desperately short on goalmouth action, Valenciennes went close when David Ducourtioux's cross was headed off target by Johan Audel.

The home side were on top for the remainder of the half, with Gregory Pujol seeing his long-ranger deflected behind by Jean-Pascal Mignot before the striker smashed in a cross-shot that Fahid Ben Khalfallah could not divert in. Valenciennes began on the offensive at the start of the second half as well and Audel was the beneficiary of some shaky defending but his shot flew just over the bar.

Audel and Pujol were proving the brightest sparks and they combined in the 48th minute but the latter's header was well saved by Oliver Sorin. The home fans must have been confident the goal was coming but instead there was more frustration, with Renaud Cohade firing over and Ben Khalfallah also off target.

Audel came closest to a breakthrough with 13 minutes remaining after he had been released by Remi Gomis. The forward raced into the penalty area but dragged his left-footed shot just wide. Auxerre finally threatened in the closing stages and felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Roy Contout went down under Milan Bisevac's challenge but it was not given. Ben Khalfallah had the final chance of the night but it was the same story for Valenciennes as his acrobatic scissor kick failed to trouble Sorin.