Lyon halted their recent blip, Rennes climbed up to second while Nantes and Nice both salvaged late draws.
Lyon triumph, as Rennes rise to second
Lyon brought an end to their recent blip, Rennes climbed up to second in Ligue 1 while Nantes and Nice both salvaged late draws in their games against Sochaux and Toulouse respectively.
Champions
Lyon had failed to win their last four league outings but they secured success over
Caen via Karim Benzema's 43rd minute strike.
Guy Lacombe's
Rennes sit second after they extended their superb unbeaten record with success over
Lorient.
Gyan Asamoah and Moussa Sow both came off the bench to net late goals after Jeremy Morel had opened the scoring.
Struggling
Sochaux looked set for three points against
Nantes after Mevlut Erdinc broke the deadlock on 76 minutes but Aurelien Capoue levelled with just four minutes remaining.
Toulouse were on the brink of a late victory against
Nice after a brace from Andre Andre-Pierre Gignac cancelled out Anthony Modeste's strike.
However, in the dying seconds Vincent Hognon struck as Nice narrowly avoided a third loss in four outings.
Lille rose to fifth in the standings with a 3-1 win against bottom-of-the-table
Le Havre at Stade Lille-Metropole.
Rudi Garcia's men went ahead through Ludovic Obraniak but Le Havre hit back via Hassan Alla's 61st minute effort.
But Lille battled to secure the three points Yohan Cabaye and Michel Bastos fired home in the final seven minutes.
Alain Perrin's
St Etienne now sit five points away from the relegation places after they defeated
Auxerre 2-0.
Paulo Machado opened the scoring after just 12 minutes and France striker Bafetimbi Gomis wrapped up the triumph late one.
Grenoble recorded a first league win in nine attempts after they overcame
Le Mans 2-1.
Albert Baning and Sandy Paillot were on target for the home side before Modibo Maiga netted a consolation and Saber Ben Frej was dismissed.
