PSG flunk Auxerre test as minnows hold Lyon

Lyon and Paris Saint Germain laid bare the deteriorating standard of the French top flight on Sunday, drawing with bottom side Arles and losing at home to struggling Auxerre respectively.

Lyon may have won all three of their Champions League matches this season but they were abject in failing to conquer an Arles side who had previously shown themselves to be out of their depth at this level with just one point from their opening nine matches.

Coach Claude Puel sat uncomfortably in his hotseat as he watched a 1-1 draw in rain-drenched conditions at Arles’s modest Avignon home.

Home fans gave the apparent no-hopers a standing ovation after they had secured a deserved point.

It could have been more after Dja Djedje’s 36th-minute chip put the hosts ahead but two minutes after the restart Jimmy Briand sent home a bullet header from a Miralem Pjanic corner.

Even that could not prevent discord among Lyon fans aghast at just three league wins so far this season.

Some held up banners demanding Puel’s resignation.

Lyon, seven league titles in a row before Bordeaux broke their sequence in 2009, are now 14th in the table, seven points behind surprise leaders Rennes.

PSG, no league titles since 1994, are only three points off the top three – but they also left their supporters decidedly unimpressed after squandering an early lead in a 3-2 loss at the Parc des Princes against Auxerre.

Nene bagged the Parisians the fastest goal of the French season after just 50 seconds off a pass from Ludovic Giuly.

But the promising start then evaporated as Auxerre levelled two minutes later through Jean-Pascal Mignot and then Roy Contout put the visitors ahead with barely 10 minutes on the clock.

Julien Quercia netted for 3-1 after 24 minutes and although PSG pressed thereafter all they could manage in reply was a Nene penalty midway through the second half as Auxerre moved out of the bottom five while PSG sit sixth.

Reigning champions Marseille were hoping to take advantage of Rennes’ slip up Saturday at home to Montpellier – their first loss – with a win at Lille in the late match to go joint second with St Etienne and promoted Brest, who, like Rennes, have given Breton football a shot in the arm this season.

Brest shocked Bordeaux 2-0 away on Saturday with Romain Poyet and Benoit Lesoimier on target.

Rennes, top for the past two weeks for the first time since 1970 – were unable to keep their fine form going after Joris Marveaux notched the only goal for Montpellier.

The goal meant heartache for Marveaux’s brother Sylvain, starring in the Rennes ranks.

A hard-fought game boiled over twice after the break as first the visitors had Garry Bokaly sent off and then Rennes also went down to 10 men after a late dismissal for skipper Kader Mangane.

Like Rennes, St Etienne suffered a wobble as they had to rescue a point while failing to win for the third straight game, Emmanuel Riviere’s late effort cancelling out Caen’s opener from Youssef El-Arabi in a 1-1 draw.

Elsewhere, Valenciennes won 2-0 at Monaco to push the principality side into the bottom four and Toulouse won 3-1 at Sochaux to climb to joint fourth with Montpellier on 17 points.