Strugglers fire blanks

Sochaux and Ajaccio both remain in the midst of a battle against relegation ffollowing a goalless draw.

Sochaux and Ajaccio both remain in the midst of a battle against relegation from Ligue 1 following a goalless draw at the Stade Auguste Bonal. An impressive win against Lyon last time out along with this latest point sees Sochaux two points above the drop zone and although Ajaccio are four points clear, they are on a poor run of form. The visitors went closest in the opening 10 minutes when Adrian Mutu got on the end of a Dennis Oliech pass but the former Chelsea man blazed over the bar after beating Cedric Kante. The hosts' first chance on goal came after 20 minutes but Giovanni Sio saw his header saved by Francisco Ochoa after Sebastian Roudet swung a dangerous cross in from the left. In a half of few chances, Ajaccio almost stole the lead on the stroke of half-time. Mutu met Sigamary Diarra's cross but after holding off a Junior Carlao challenge the Romanian's header was countered for a corner. Ajaccio continued to press the hosts into the second half but, despite holding off the attentions of Carlao, Diarra saw his effort turned away by Simon Pouplin in the Sochaux goal. Both sides struggled to create opportunities in what was proving to be a very dour affair but despite that Sochaux almost stole the points at the death. Roudet managed to get free on the left and delivered into the area but Sloan Privat's header was gathered at the second attempt and that proved to be the final noteworthy action of what was a largely forgettable game.