Caen pull away from drop-zone
22/02/2012
Livio Nabab was the hero as SM Caen came from behind to beat AJ Auxerre 2-1 and move three points closer to safety.
SM Caen 2 - 1 AJ Auxerre 
With Auxerre mired in the relegation zone and Caen not much better off, this game was always going to be a tightly contested affair. Understandably given their respective positions neither side was willing to risk much in the first half and the opening 45 minutes followed the pattern set in the night's other two fixtures; goalless.
That all changed in the second half when Roy Contout scored his first goal since Week 13 to hand Auxerre the advantage. The French Guiana-born winger was quickest to react after Alexis Thébaux could only parry Polish defender Dariusz Dudka's long-range effort (60').
Traoré equalises
Having amassed just 11 points from their 11 previous matches at the Stade Michel d'Ornano, Caen had one of the poorest home records in the league but a goal from second half substitute Kandia Traoré soon got hosts back on level terms (71').
The creator of that goal, Nabab then stepped up to win it for Caen after he seized upon a poor clearance from Dudka and let fly from fully 25 metres to score not only his third goal of the season but his third of the month, after earlier strikes against Evian and Lyon (78').
With seven points from their last three games Caen and their supporters can sleep easier ahead of this weekend's game against second-bottom Nice while Auxerre will need to steel themselves for the arrival of free-scoring Saint-Etienne on Saturday.