Auxerre leave it late to snatch point off Troyes
Auxerre started strongly and went close to taking the lead through Julian Jeanvier, but the defender couldn't steer his free header on target after a fantastic delivery from Gauthier Hein.
Clearly determined to make an impact, Hein went close himself just moments later, as the Frenchman latched onto a lofted pass before firing a shot narrowly wide of Gauthier Gallon’s post.
Troyes responded with a few chances of their own, as Rony Lopes saw his deflected shot strike the top of the crossbar, before the resulting corner ended with Xavier Chavalerin’s shot from outside the box, which forced a save from Benoit Costil.
Unlike their visitors, however, Troyes eventually made this short spell of pressure count, when Lopes fired home after some brilliant play down the left wing from Mame Balde.
The visitors started the second half on the front foot as they searched for an equaliser, and almost found it just five minutes after the restart, when Lassine Sinayoko received a ball into the box, only to fire a first-time effort over the bar.
Troyes then went close to doubling their advantage just moments later through Thierno Baldé, as the Frenchman worked a yard of space for himself on the edge of the area before his shot went just wide of the post.
Le Bleu et Blanc went agonisingly close when Sinayoko drilled a shot across goal, but it bounced off the inside of the post and went across the face of goal before being dealt with by the Troyes defence.
However, he eventually got Auxerre their equaliser as the game approached added time, unselfishly squaring the ball to Perrin, who buried his shot in the far bottom corner.
Auxerre managed to hold on for a point to push themselves up to 14th as they look to build a gap between themselves and the bottom four.
Though sitting two places above Auxerre, Troyes may start to feel the first flickers of fear, as despite their mid-table standing, they now have a worse points total than the one they held at the same stage in their 2017/18 relegation campaign.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lassine Sinayoko (Auxerre)
