AJ Auxerre 1-1 FC Lorient

Willy Boly's 18th-minute strike looked to be enough to give the troubled Burgundy hosts the points, but Lorient, who saw Audard dismissed just 20 minutes in, were rewarded for their enterprise and dogged resistance when Emeghara pounced two minutes into added time to leave Auxerre in the bottom three.

Sitting in the relegation zone and without a win since Week 17, Auxerre's need was the greater at kick-off, and they showed the most urgency in the opening stages with strikers Dennis Oliech and Ben Sahar lively. It was a defender, though, who provided the breakthrough when Boly met Kamel Chafni's corner to head unchallenged beyond Audard, who must have been furious with the static defence in front of him.

The Lorient number one did not have much time to convey his fury, though, as he was soon heading for the dressing-room. Sahar raced onto Delvin Ndinga's through ball, but was halted when Audard handled outside his area to leave referee Stéphane Lannoy with no other option than to show a red card.

Unsurprisingly, Auxerre enjoyed the lion's share of possession, and Oliech may have added to his team's advantage had his goalbound shot not been halted by Chafni before the latter brought a good save from Audard's replacement, Benjamin Lecomte.

The 20-year-old, who was playing only his fifth league game, was again busy in the opening minutes after the re-start as he turned aside a Chafni effort and a low drive from Sahar as Auxerre threatened to give themselves breathing space. Ndinga should perhaps have done so when Chafni's cross found him unmarked in the box, but the midfielder's header was straight at a grateful Lecomte.

The youngster was given every opportunity to show his talent and kept his team in the game as Prince Segbefia and Oliech were both frustrated. Lorient had shown little in attacking terms, though a Mathieu Coutadeur header came close to finding the target before Emeghara made the hosts pay for failing to capitalise on their man advantage. The Swiss international met Coutadeur's late corner to nod the ball across Olivier Sorin and into the net to leave the hosts in trouble.

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