Summary Saint-Etienne move back within a point of fourth-placed Monaco.
PARIS (AFP) - Saint-Etienne kept up their bid for European football next season and added to relegation fears for Metz with a 3-2 victory in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Leaders Lyon are not in action until Sunday, when they travel to third-placed Marseille who are four points off the pace, while Paris Saint-Germain, one point behind Lyon, travel to seventh-placed Bordeaux.
It will be the first game for Laurent Blanc s defending champions, who are in the hunt for four trophies, since their heroic Champions League victory over Chelsea on Wednesday.
Saint-Etienne move back within a point of fourth-placed Monaco, who crushed Bastia 3-0 on Friday, thanks to goals from Ivory Coast striker Max-Alain Gradel, Mevlut Erding and Yohan Mollo.
Visiting coach Christophe Galtier said he was pleased with the win but disappointed that his side conceded twice. "We scored three goals, and they were good goals, well constructed and well developed but we didn t control the match because we conceded twice," said the Saint-Etienne coach.
"We are conceding too many goals, but the most important thing is that our strikers are scoring and that gives them confidence.
"We should have wrapped up the match before but fortunately we scored the third goal," added Galtier.
The defeat leaves Metz nine points from safety and in danger of returning to Ligue 2 with just nine matches to save their top flight status.
Playing later on Saturday, seventh-placed Montpellier host Reims, Lens and Toulouse meet up north in a key relegation battle, Lorient await Caen and Evian travel to Nantes.
