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Nigeria defender Taye Taiwo scored with a late penalty kick on Sunday as defending champion Marseille rallied to beat Montpellier 2-1 and close the gap on French leader Lille to one point.
Olivier Giroud put hosts Montpellier ahead in the 64th minute when he finished off a flowing move by curling the ball into the bottom corner for his 10th league goal of the season.
Lille has picked up only one point from its last two games, opening up the title race with seven games remaining.
"I'm especially pleased because it wasn't an easy match," Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said. "We won it with our hearts. It was tough because Montpellier defended well. We're getting closer to Lille."
Lille is six points clear of third-place Lyon, which lost 1-0 at Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday's late match. PSG moved above Rennes and into fourth place, seven points behind Lille.
"It's true that we've missed a good chance to get back in the (title) race," Lyon coach Claude Puel said. "We came here with a lot of ambition."
Marseille striker Andre-Pierre Gignac leveled five minutes after Giroud's goal, running onto a superbly struck 50-yard pass from midfielder Benoit Cheyrou and clipping the ball over goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren without breaking stride for his second goal in two games and seventh in the league this season.
"We reacted well after conceding the first goal. Gignac scored and we benefited from a penalty at the end," Marseille defender Charles Kabore said. "We bounced back and got three very important points."
Gignac, who has lost his place in the France squad since the team's disappointing World Cup campaign, almost added another goal with a powerful shot that swerved just wide of the top corner.
After both teams had a player sent off, Taiwo scored in the 82nd when he coolly sent Jourdren the wrong way.
Referee Stephane Lannoy awarded Marseille the penalty after Abdelhamid El Kaoutari tugged back Loic Remy as he was about to shoot. Lannoy then sent both players off. Remy was dismissed even though Marseille was awarded the decision.
At Parc des Princes, defender Zoumana Camara scored in the 76th minute for PSG, which still has a slim title shot but could more realistically overtake Lyon in the race for a Champions League place.
PSG winger Ludovic Giuly made an immediate impact shortly after coming on for striker Mevlut Erding, who was again jeered by home fans.
Brazilian midfielder Nene's free kick was punched away by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but the ball fell for Giuly to react quickly by pulling it back just enough for Camara to slide and divert it in with his knee.
PSG had the better of the chances in the first half, with Nene volleying wide from close range and striker Guillaume Hoarau seeing his shot cleared off the line by Lyon's Jeremy Toulalan.
Puel again left Brazilian defender Cris on the bench, preferring to keep Toulalan in central defense, even though Toulalan is normally a midfielder.
Lyon's first best chance came in the 50th when striker Bafetimbi Gomis latched onto Maxime Gonalon's pass in the penalty area and scooped the ball onto the crossbar.
Lyon playmaker Yoann Gourcuff had another poor match, and he was replaced at halftime by Ederson.
Last-place Arles-Avignon was relegated after losing 1-0 at home to Valenciennes, with Gregory Pujol scoring his 14th goal of the season. Arles has won just one of its 31 matches.
Marseille defends its League Cup trophy against Montpellier next weekend at Stade de France.
