Bordeaux wins 10th straight, takes first

PARIS (AP) -- Bordeaux beat Le Mans 3-2 on Saturday to record its 10th straight win and move into first place in the French league ahead of Marseille, which is three points behind ahead of its home match against Lyon on Sunday.

Defender Marc Planus scored the winner for Bordeaux in the 76th minute with a shot from close range after Yoann Gourcuff's shot bounced back off the post.

The win improved Bordeaux to 74 points from 36 rounds, but Marseille will reclaim top spot on goal difference if it beats seven-time defending champion Lyon at Stade Velodrome. Lyon will surrender its title if it loses the match.

Le Mans took the lead through striker Anthony Le Tallec in the 24th minute, but Bordeaux bounced back through Marouane Chamakh in the 38th, and France playmaker Gourcuff then put Les Girondins 2-1 up with his sixth goal in five games.

But Bordeaux struggled to hold out against a slick Le Mans team and Le Tallec scored again in the 55th to make it 2-2 and ensure a nervy second half for Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc's team.

In Saturday's other results, it was: Caen 2, Sochaux 0; Grenoble 0, Nancy 0; Saint-Etienne 2, Toulouse 2; Lorient 1, Le Havre 1; and Monaco 1, Valenciennes 1.

Caen got a vital win its bid to avoid relegation with Steve Savidan scoring twice inside the last 15 minutes, while Sochaux replaced Caen in the drop zone.

Saint-Etienne missed a chance to move further away from the relegation zone despite twice taking the lead against a Toulouse side which equalized in the 89th minute through Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Mustapha Bayal Sall put Saint-Etienne ahead in the 34th, but Moussa Sissoko replied for Toulouse in the 66th before Araujo Ilan scored with a penalty to restore the home side's lead in the 73rd. But Saint-Etienne failed to clear a corner and Gignac pounced from close range to grab his league-leading 22nd goal of the season.

At the bottom, Le Havre is already relegated and is in last place with 25 points, Nantes is in 19th place with 33 points and Sochaux is in 18th with 36. Saint-Etienne and Caen are one point ahead with 37, while Le Mans has 38.

Later, Paris Saint-Germain was playing Auxerre at Parc des Princes.

In Sunday's other games, it is Lille vs. Nice, and Nantes vs. Rennes.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.