Nantes  came back from one goal down with 22 minutes left to run out 3-2 winners in a hugely entertaining game against Auxerre.

Mauro Cetto levelled proceedings for the home side in the 68th minute before Emerse Fae grabbed all three points with a goal in the 85th minute.

The defeat is a bitter blow for Auxerre, who missed out on a great opportunity to further their European ambitions for next season.

The home side went in front after six minutes when Auxerre midfielder Thomas Kahlenberg lost the ball to Dennis Oliech and the Kenyan striker made no mistake in sliding the ball past Fabien Cool in the visitors' goal.

Cool's last contribution of the game was to pick the ball out of the back of his net as he was forced off with an injury in the 14th minute to be replaced by Sebastien Hamel.

Kahlenburg looked to have made up for his earlier slip in the 50th minute when he latched on to Yann Lachuer's pass to fire the ball home, only for the referee to rule the effort out for offside.

Auxerre finally struck in the 60th minute when Kanga Akale got on the end of Lachuer's free-kick to level the score at 1-1.

Seven minutes later Kahlenberg finally got his reward when he took a great pass from substitute Romain Poyet and put the visitors in front with a well-taken goal.

It only took Nantes one minute to respond however, when Frederic Da Rocha played in a free-kick which found defender Mauro Cetto to fire home.

As the game looked to be heading for a draw, Stephane Grichting lost possession and Fae coolly finished past substitute Hamel.