Paris St Germain have blown the chance to move level on points with Ligue 1 leader Montpellier on Sunday.
Montpellier invited pressure from second-placed PSG after slumping to a 2-1 defeat at Lorient in the early Sunday match.
But PSG were unable to capitalise as they were held to a 1-1 draw by last-placed Auxerre, with Anthony Le Tallec delivering a late equaliser at the at Stade de-l'Abbe Deschamps after Nene opened the scoring for Carlo Ancelotti's side in the 23rd minute with a powerful finish, his 14th goal of the campaign.
The result means that Montpellier still leads the way on 66 points, while PSG have closed to 64 points with six matches remaining, although the Parisian side have only won one of their last five games.
At the Stade du Moustoir, Montpellier and Lorient had fought out a dour opening to theit contest before Mapou Yangambiwa unfortunately broke the deadlock in the 69th minute, putting the ball into his own net to give Lorient the lead.
Joel Campbell scored from outside the box to make it 2-0, but the cushion lasted only a minute before Olivier Giroud scored his 20th league goal of the season to give Montpellier hope.
But for all their possession the visitors could not find an equaliser as their title aspirations took a hit.
Third-placed Lille remain on course for a Champions League play-off spot after a romping to a 4-1 win at home to AC Ajaccio.
Liverpool loanee Joe Cole made it 2-0 after Yoann Poulard's own goal before Belgian star Eden Hazard added a fourth from the penalty spot three minutes from time.
Sochaux posted a precious 1-0 win over Dijon in their bid for survival with the three points lifting them to 33 points, only goal difference from safety behind Caen and Brest, who lost 2-1 at St Etienne.
St Etienne went ahead twice either side of Issam Jemaa's 63rd-minute strike for Brest to boost their Europa League hopes following a run of four games without a win.
Benoit Tremoulinas converted a penalty in stoppage time to snatch a 2-2 draw for Bordeaux against Nancy.
Bakaye Traore and Sebastian Puygrenier put the hosts ahead 2-1 after Yoan Gouffran's opener for Bordeaux.
And finally, Evian won their mid-table battle with Valenciennes 3-0 after three first-half goals.