PARIS - Fernando Menegazzo and Wendel scored Saturday to help Bordeaux secure a 2-0 win at Auxerre and move temporarily ahead of Lyon at the top of the French league on goal difference.
Menegazzo headed in a corner in the 34th minute, and Brazilian winger Wendel wrapped up the win in the 80th by scoring from close range after striker Marouane Chamakh headed a free kick from Yoann Gourcuff into his path.
Bordeaux's win takes it to 59 points after 31 rounds of matches.
Lyon has the same total but has played a game less and can reclaim top spot if it beats Monaco at home on Sunday. Marseille is in third place with 58 points and also plays Sunday at home to Grenoble.
Rennes beat Saint-Etienne 1-0 in Saturday's later match to keep Saint-Etienne in 19th place and deep in relegation trouble. Romain Danze scored for Rennes in the 50th minute when he headed in a cross from Moussa Sow.
Having guided Lyon to the League and Cup double last season, Saint-Etienne coach Alain Perrin is now fighting to keep Les Verts in the top flight after four straight league defeats.
Although Rennes has lost only four games this season -- the least amount of defeats in the French league -- coach Guy Lacombe's team has drawn a league-leading 15 games and so remains in seventh place with 51 points.
Elsewhere, striker Andre-Pierre Gignac grabbed his league-leading 19th goal of the season to help Toulouse seal a 1-0 home win over struggling Nantes. The win helped Toulouse move into fourth place, three points behind Lyon and Bordeaux.
Gignac, who celebrated his first cap for France by creating the goal in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying match against Lithuania this month, showed his class in the 52nd minute when his powerful shot from 25 yards bounced in off the post.
At the bottom of the standings, Caen secured a valuable 2-1 win against last-place Le Havre, which is now drifting closer to relegation and is nine points away from 19th-place Saint-Etienne.
Steve Savidan put Caen ahead in the 19th minute, only for Amadou Alassane to level in the 41st. But veteran striker Reynald Lemaitre helped Caen out of the relegation zone when he grabbed the winning goal in the 87th.
In other games, Loic Remy got both goals for Nice in a 2-0 home win over Lorient; Roland Lamah and Modibo Maiga scored as Le Mans beat Sochaux 2-0; and late goals from Damian Macaluso and Youssouf Hadji eased Nancy's relegation fears in a 2-0 home victory over Valenciennes.
Le Havre has 21 points, Saint-Etienne has 30, and Nantes dropped into the bottom three, also with 30.
In Sunday's other game, Paris Saint-Germain is away to close rival Lille with both teams chasing a place in the top three and locked on 55 points.