Ligue 1 wrap: PSG, Montpellier draw

A late leveller from Guillaume Hoarau gave Paris Saint-Germain a 2-2 draw in their top-of-the-table Ligue 1 clash with Montpellier on Sunday.

Montpellier took a 2-1 lead late in the second half through a John Utaka goal but the league leaders salvaged a draw in front of their home fans when Hoarau scored with two minutes to go.

The visitors, who started the match a point behind PSG, made the better start to the game but the home side moved into the lead when Alex fired a fearsome free kick into the net from 25 yards out four minutes before the interval.

Montpellier responded swiftly, however, taking advantage of a napping home defence to level through Younes Belhanda’s header in almost the last action of the first half.

Both sides were wary after the break, which led to few chances on goal but Montpellier looked to have won the match in the 81st minute when striker Olivier Giroud delivered an inch-perfect cross to Utaka, who converted.

But Rene Girard’s team were denied at the death as some fancy footwork from Jeremy Menez allowed him to cross low for Hoarau to touch in, meaning PSG maintained their one-point lead at the top of the table.

In Bordeaux, Lyon were denied an opportunity to move equal third thanks to Yoan Gouffran’s first-half goal.

In a match with only five shots on target, ninth-placed Bordeaux took a 1-0 win when Ludovic Obraniak’s corner was headed in at the back post by Gouffran after 42 minutes.

Lyon’s defeat allowed their local rivals, St Etienne, to join them, Marseille and Rennes on 39 points in the battle for fourth spot.

St Etienne destroyed Rennes, one of their rivals for European football next season, with three goals in the second half to complete a 4-0 victory.

Jean-Pascal Mignot headed the home side in front in the 25th minute after getting in front of Rennes’ goalkeeper Benoit Costil, who came off his line.

Laurent Batlles doubled the lead with a tap-in eight minutes into the second half, before a top strike from Bakary Sako and a goal from Max Gradel finished off the win.