Grenoble moved up to 11th place in Ligue 1 tonight with a hard-fought win at rock-bottom Le Havre.

Pierre Boya scored the only goal of the game five minutes before half-time and despite Le Havre having the better chances and greater possession in the second half, they held on for three points.

Le Havre look odds-on to go down and time is running out to bridge the 12 point gap to safety with five games remaining.

The hosts had the first chance of the game, though, Maxime Baca forcing a fine save from keeper Gregory Wimbee following good work from Amadou Alassane.

Le Havre's Hassan Alla then got on the end of a Stephane Noro free-kick but his close-range shot was brilliantly kept out by Wimbee.

The goalkeeper ensured Grenoble stayed level again in the 24th minute, saving from Noro, who had combined well with Mamadou Diallo.

Grenoble, missing injured trio David Jemmali, Nassim Akrour and Albert Baning, had their first chance in the 32nd minute when Larsen Toure's free-kick crashed back off the crossbar, but they did not have to wait long to open the scoring.

A fine passing move between Laurent Courtois and Daniel Moreira played in Boya for a simple tap-in.

Le Havre dominated the second half but they were constantly thwarted by the in-form Wimbee.

The goalkeeper denied Alassane just after the re-start and then made a superb reaction save to keep out Noro's volley from a corner.

Wimbee made a double save to deny Noro again in the 58th minute, and in injury time defender Walid Regragui cleared Nicolas Dieuze's header off the line to clinch all three points for Grenoble.