Bordeaux rallies to beat Valenciennes

Bordeaux rallied to beat Valenciennes 2-1 on Saturday with goals from Jussie and David Bellion and moved into third place in the French league.

Second-place Nancy wasted a chance to go first, drawing at bottom-side Metz 0-0.

Valenciennes opened the scoring with an own goal from Souleymane Diawara who deflected in a shot from Algeria international Yacine Bezzaz in the 34th minute.

Bordeaux leveled in the 37th after Brazilian forward Jussie converted a penalty kick.

David Bellion got his eighth goal this season to give the victory to Bordeaux, connecting with a corner kick in the 45th.

"The team showed its moral strength. It immediately reacted after conceding an unlucky goal," Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc said.

Bordeaux has 22 points from 12 games while Valenciennes dropped to ninth place with 18 points.

Lyon leads the league with 25 points from 11 games and visits Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.

Nancy, which has 24 points, had the best chances against Metz but lacked the finishing touch to convert them.

Metz goalkeeper Christophe Marichez stopped a low header from Andre Luiz in the 16th minute off a free kick from Benjamin Gavanon.

Gavanon chested the ball down in the 28th before shooting straight into Marichez's arms.

Nancy nearly scored in the 83rd after a poor clearance but Puygrenier's diagonal shot went wide.

In Saturday's other games, it was: Sochaux 2, Marseille 1; Lorient 0, Nice 0; Saint-Etienne 0, Auxerre 0; Lille 0, Strasbourg 3; and Monaco 0, Caen 0.

Sochaux edged Marseille to grab its first win at home this season and move away from the relegation zone.