Montpellier blew the chance to move top of the table, while Grenoble's relegation was confirmed.
Montpellier waste top spot chance; St Etienne win at Sochaux
Montpellier blew the chance to move top of the Ligue 1 table with a disappointing 2-2 draw at ten-man Le Mans, while Grenoble were relegated.
With leaders Marseille to play on Sunday, the stage was set for Rene Girard's Montpellier, who were only promoted form Ligue 2 last season, to claim top spot at least temporarily.
And they got off to the worst possible start as Roland Lamah grabbed the opener inside the first minute to stun the title-chasers.
However, by half-time the away side had turned things around with a goal from Karim Ait-Fana (12) and a penalty from Souleymane Camara (33) handing
Montpellier the lead at the break.
To swing things further in the away side's favour, Gregory Cerdan received his marching order for a deliberate handball three minutes before the interval.
However, Montpellier failed to capitalise with the extra man and
Le Mans duly punished them as Lamah scored his second of the game 20 minutes from time.
Bordeaux, knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by French rivals Lyon in midweek, also dropped points as they went down 3-1 at
Paris St Germain.
Goalkeeper Ulrich Rame was sent off on the half-hour mark and PSG took advantage of their extra man to carve out a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Sylvan Armand and Mevlut Erdinc either side of half-time.
Ludovic Sane reduced Bordeaux's arrears with ten minutes to go but Guillaume Hoarau quickly gave PSG their two-goal cushion back.
Elsewhere,
Rennes and
Lorient remain separated by a single goal as they played out a 1-1 draw at Yves-Allainmat.
Sigamary Diarra opened the scoring for the hosts after 13 minutes before Romain Danze levelled three minutes before the break.
The result means Rennes edge Lorient in seventh place with a slightly better goal difference, with both sides on 50 points.
Meanwhile,
Monaco ensured they remain on course for a top-half finish with a 2-1 win over
Valenciennes at the Stade Louis II.
The hosts fell behind to Milan Bisevac's opener on 37 minutes but two goals in the second-half from Nene (61) and substitute Moussa Maazou (78) sealed the win.
At the bottom end of the table,
Toulouse summed up
Grenoble's season with an easy 4-0 home win with substitute Franck Tabanou grabbing a brace.
Either side of Tabanou's double, Machado Paulo opened the scoring on nine minutes before Andre-Pierre Gignac sealed the rout with the fourth on 85 minutes.
The win moves Toulouse up to 12th place while their victims are now condemned to the drop.
St Etienne went some way to securing their top flight survival with a creditable 2-0 win away to
Sochaux.
A goal in either half from Loic Perrin (40) and Gonzalo Bergessio (65) sealed the three points, and St Etienne now hover eight points above the drop zone.
St Etienne's win will come as further blow to Boulogne, who went down 3-0 to a Toifilou Maoulida inspired RC Lens.
Maoulida grabbed a hat-trick after opening the scoring on 33 minutes before two more goals in the second-half (50, 68) completed his treble.
