Rennes beats Montpellier to top French league

PARIS (AP) — Razak Boukari fired Rennes to the top of the French league by scoring in Saturday's 1-0 win at Montpellier.

The Rennes winger volleyed home from the edge of the box in the 27th minute against the run of play.

"We didn't have a very good game but in the end we take three points," Rennes striker Victor Hugo Montano told Europe 1 radio. "We were facing a team that doesn't give up.

"We don't create many chances but we convert them. Right now, luck is on our side. But we will have to do more because luck won't always be on our side."

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain lost ground in the title race with a 1-0 defeat at Auxerre.

Rennes earned its fifth straight victory to top the standings, three points clear of Lille which visits Marseille on Sunday.

Rennes coach Frederic Antonetti was, however, reluctant to admit his team was targeting the title, in an apparent effort to protect his young squad from the media frenzy.

"I think Marseille and Lyon are the two best teams, those which are the most seasoned," Antonetti said. "Lille has a good team. Paris has a good team, too. We're a bit like the odd team."

Montpellier remained in sixth place, 11 points behind Rennes.

"The football gods were not on our side," Montpellier coach Rene Girard said. "We can be bitter. It's really unfair when I see the game we've had."

Montpellier nearly leveled in the 35th when John Utaka's long-range strike hit the post.

Rennes defender Kevin Theophile Catherine saved his team in the 72nd by clearing off the goal line a shot from Geoffrey Dernis.

In the third minute of injury time, Montpellier forward Souleymane Camara even rattled the bar from eight yards (meters).

In Auxerre, midfielder Kamel Chafni scored with a half-volley in the 85th that looped over PSG goalkeeper Apoula Edel and into he top corner.

PSG remained in fourth place, five points behind Rennes, but Marseille and Lyon could leapfrog the Parisian club on Sunday.

"There's a lot of disappointment and frustration tonight," PSG coach Antoine Kombouare said. "I still have some trouble to find explanations and understand how we managed to lose this match. We made some big efforts and played some quality football but in the end we lost."

PSG's best chance came from a downward header by Peguy Luyindula that bounced off the post in the 53rd.

Auxerre snapped a 16-game winless streak in all competitions to get some breathing room and stand three points above the relegation zone.

PSG was playing without its two strikers, Guillaume Hoarau and Mevlut Erding. Hoarau had the flu while Erding was nursing a calf injury.

Also on Saturday, it was: Caen 1, Saint-Etienne 0; Lorient 0, Nancy 0; Toulouse 0, Sochaux 1; Valenciennes 0, Monaco 0; Nice 0, Lens 0.

Caen forward Youssef El-Arabi raised his tally to 13 goals by finding the net in the second minute of stoppage time off a pass from Yohan Mollo.

"Those three points will do us some good for the remainder of the season," Caen midfielder Benjamin Nivet said. "I hope this victory will be like a springboard for us. We still need to get some points to be safe."

Caen was in 14th place, six points above the relegation zone, while Saint-Etienne lost its fourth straight game to drop to 10th place.

Sochaux forward Modibo Maiga notched his 11th goal this season, tucking home a low cross from David Sauget in the 64th.

Toulouse goalkeeper Matthieu Valverde was sent off in the 89th for bringing down Cedric Bakambu, who was clean through on goal.

Sochaux climbed to eighth place while Toulouse suffered its fourth straight defeat to slip to 12th.

All matches were officiated by referees from the third division as the French Football Federation decided to replace referees in charge of first-division matches this weekend after the refereeing union vowed to delay kickoff times by 15 minutes in protest against recent criticism.

On Sunday, Lyon hosts Arles-Avignon and Bordeaux faces Brest.