Rennes succumbed to a late goal from Julien Quercia as Auxerre claimed a 2-1 win to prevent their opponents from returning to the top of Ligue 1.

Jires Kembo-Ekoko looked to have earned the visitors something from the match when he cancelled out Valter Birsa's strike. But Quercia struck with five minutes remaining to inflict a fifth defeat of the season on Rennes and leave them trailing leaders Brest by two points.

Auxerre had the first sight of goal after eight minutes with a header from Jean-Pascal Mignot which just cleared the crossbar. Benoit Pedretti then tried to break the deadlock for the home side with a free-kick on the half-hour mark but Rennes goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez was equal to the challenge.

Auxerre came even closer to scoring as the interval approached when Roy Contout beat Douchez with his diving header only to see Kembo-Ekoko clear the ball off the line.

Another chance went begging six minutes after the restart with Contout flicking the ball onto an unmarked Pedretti, who turned his shot wide of the post from six yards when it seemed easier to hit the target.

But Auxerre eventually scored after 66 minutes through Birsa, who picked up a pass from Frederic Sammaritano before curling the ball into the top left corner.

Rennes had barely had a look-in so far, but managed to get back into the match just four minutes later. Romain Danze lifted in a cross which Kembo-Ekoko headed against the post before tucking home the rebound from a tight angle.

Auxerre responded to the challenge, though, and after Douchez pulled off two great saves to deny Sammaritano and Contout, Quercia eventually settled the contest with a low shot which beat the Rennes goalkeeper.