Lille and Montpellier continued the pursuit of leaders Bordeaux as Lyon left it late to overcome Nancy.
Wins for second and third as Lyon leave it late for the points
Lille and Montpellier continued the pursuit of Ligue 1 leaders Bordeaux as Lyon left it late to overcome Nancy.
St Etienne climbed out of the relegation zone after beating bottom club Grenoble as Monaco and Lorient boosted their hopes of European football next season.
In-form
Lille made it seven wins in a row in all competitions after a convincing 3-1 success at home to
Paris St Germain.
Ludovic Obraniak put Lille ahead after just five minutes and he crossed for Florent Belmont to head home the second goal on 52 minutes.
Franck Beria headed the third goal in the 68th minute after Yohan Cabaye had helped on a corner before Mevlut Erding headed a late consolation for PSG.
The result leaves Lille six points behind Bordeaux, while
Montpellier are a further point adrift after a 1-0 home victory over
Nice.
Souleymane Camara scored the only goal from close range on 58 minutes, while Montpellier came close to a second when Emir Spahic struck the crossbar.
Lyon are 10 points off top spot after scoring twice in the final 11 minutes to claim a 2-0 away success over
Nancy.
Cris turned home a corner from close range to finally break the deadlock on 79 minutes before Maxime Gonalons made certain of the points with four minutes to go.
St Etienne hung on to record an important 2-1 success away to
Grenoble, who have now won just once in 20 league matches this season.
Loic Perrin gave St Etienne the lead just after the half-hour mark and Emmanuel Riviere doubled the advantage five minutes before half-time.
A Cedric Varrault own goal immediately brought Grenoble back into the game and the hosts almost snatched an equaliser when Sandy Paillot was denied by the woodwork in the second half.
Thwarted
Auxerre's bid to make inroads into Bordeaux's lead at the top was thwarted after a 0-0 draw at home to second-from-bottom
Boulogne.
Lorient produced an impressive performance on their travels after a 3-0 win over lowly
Le Mans, with Laurent Koscielny scoring after 22 minutes.
Olivier Monterrubio's free-kick made it 2-0 just before the interval and he added another goal early in the second period from Arnaud Le Lan's cross.
Nene struck twice in the final six minutes as
Monaco battled for a 2-0 win over
Sochaux at Stade Louis II.
Stephane Dalmat hit the post midway through the second half for Sochaux before Nene netted on 84 minutes and again in stoppage-time.
Franck Tabanou helped himself to a brace as
Toulouse won 3-1 at
Valenciennes to move level on points with their opponents.
Tabanou opened the scoring from Andre-Pierre Gignac's pass on 16 minutes before Johan Audel headed home Rudy Mater's free-kick to equalise a minute before half-time.
Carlos Sanchez then hit the bar for Valenciennes before Mohamed Fofana responded likewise for the visitors.
Toulouse went back in front on 84 minutes when Tabanou was again set up by Gignac to score and Moussa Sissoko then added a third three minutes later.
Rennes and
Lens played out a 1-1 draw, with Moussa Sow nodding in Rod Fanni's cross to put the hosts ahead on 55 minutes.
Kevin Monnet-Paquet's close-range finish 10 minutes later earned a point for Lens, who had Alaeddine Yahia sent off late on.
