Ligue 1: Marseille beat Montpellier 3-2, Lorient beat Troyes 3-2
Andre-Pierre Gignac earned Marseille a 3-2 win over Montpellier in Ligue 1 as Lorient beat Troyes by the same scoreline.
Last Updated: 19/01/13 10:06pm
Marseille had been in trouble at the Stade Velodrome when Emanuel Herrera countered Andre Ayew's 14th-minute opener by netting an equaliser three minutes later and John Utaka made it 2-1 to Montpellier after 56 minutes.
But Jordan Ayew found an equaliser in the 79th minute for the home side and Gignac dealt Montpellier, last season's league champions, a final blow with his telling late effort.
While Marseille have closed up to one point behind leaders Lyon, the top two both have PSG on their tails, with the capital side able to take a share of the league lead should they win at hard-to-beat Bordeaux on Sunday evening.
Lorient stand fourth after a 3-2 home win over Troyes, secured by goals from Kevin Monnet-Paquet, Enzo Reale and Gregory Bourillon, with Jeremie Brechet and Fabien Camus replying.
Brandao scored in the 50th minute to deliver a 1-0 win for St Etienne at Brest, while Sochaux inched three points clear of the relegation zone as they came out on top by the same margin in their home match against Reims. The only goal came in the 15th minute from Loic Poujol, leaving Reims third-bottom.
Franck Tabanou's second-half double spurred Toulouse to a 2-1 home success against bottom-of-the-table Nancy.
Tabanou opened the scoring after 57 minutes and added a second in the 78th minute, rendering the late response from Nancy's Loosemy Karaboue a near irrelevance.
Ajaccio are just two points outside the bottom three after a 1-1 draw at home against Valenciennes.
It could have been better for Ajaccio, who led after 30 minutes when Adrian Mutu scored and gained a numerical advantage when Valenciennes had Brou Angoua sent off in the 63rd minute.
Mid-table Valenciennes were level six minutes later though, courtesy of Opa Nguette, and they clung to their point.