Rennes misses chance to make up ground in Auxerre draw

AUXERRE, France -- — Rennes missed an opportunity to make up ground in the race for Champions League spots by drawing with struggling Auxerre 0-0 in the French league on Saturday.

Rennes produced a lackluster performance, waiting until the 55th minute to test Auxerre goalkeeper Ionut Radu with a low drive from Baptiste Santamaria.

Auxerre stretched its unbeaten run in the league to six games to move out of the relegation zone. Rennes stayed in fifth place, four points outside the top three spots.

Rennes lacked movement to put under pressure an Auxerre side playing with 10 men behind the ball.

Auxerre nearly opened the scoring by pressing high up the pitch in the 18th. Gaetan Perrin nicked the ball off Djed Spence to make a cross for Gauthier Hein, whose volley crashed against the bar.

League leader Paris Saint-Germain visited Brest late. ------ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP--Sports