Rennes beat Toulouse 2-1 Sunday to retain second place in the French league and cut Lille's lead to two points.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Nice 3-0 to go level on points with Lyon in fourth place in the French league, four points behind leader Lille.
Montpellier stunned Lille 1-0 to snap the leader's 13-game unbeaten run and climb to sixth place.
Marseille beat Saint-Etienne 2-1 Saturday to keep third place, one point clear of Lyon which thrashed Nancy 4-0 on Friday.
Also Saturday, it was: Lorient 5, Bordeaux 1; Brest 2, Monaco 0; Lens 2, Sochaux 3; Caen 2, Valenciennes 2; Auxerre 1, Arles-Avignon 1.
Mid-table Toulouse created the first chances. Federico Santander played Franck Tabanou in, but the Toulouse midfielder struck the bar from 13 yards in the 13th minute.
The Rennes defense was again caught out of position in the 27th, but goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez saved with his right foot a low shot from Paulo Machado.
The visitors had their first opportunity in the 39th, when Victor Hugo Montano intercepted a pass from Toulouse defender Daniel Congre to be clean through on goal. Toulouse goalkeeper Marc Vidal denied the Colombian forward.
Rennes opened the scoring after a handling mistake from Vidal, who palmed the ball into his own net from a 25-meter strike by France midfielder Yann M'Vila on the stroke of halftime.
Rennes missed an opportunity to add a second goal in the 53rd. Vidal parried a half-volley from Abdoul Camara and Alexander Tettey pounced on the rebound to fire above an empty net.
Toulouse equalized with an own goal from Rennes defender Kevin Theophile Catherine in the 61st. Tabanou charged down the left flank to make a cross that Douchez tried to punch away, but the ball bounced off Theophile Catherine and into the net.
Moussa Sissoko nearly scored the winner for Toulouse in the 69th. He outpaced the Rennes defense only to hit the post from seven yards.
Jerome Leroy beat the offside trap in the 85th to bear down on goal, but the Rennes substitute was fouled by Toulouse fullback Adrian Gunino. Colombian striker Victor Hugo Montano converted the ensuing penalty kick to give Rennes the victory.
In Nice, Guillaume Hoarau redirected a corner from Brazilian midfielder Nene toward the far post where PSG winger Ludovic Giuly found the net with a header in the 24th minute.
Hoarau notched his seventh goal of the season to double the lead, chesting down a cross from Nene to fire into the top corner in the 44th.
PSG defender Sylvain Armand made it 3-0 when he converted a rebound in the 74th after Nice goalkeeper David Ospina had stopped a shot from Nene.
Nice were reduced to ten men in the 78th when Drissa Diakite picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Nene.
"We had to win," PSG midfielder Claude Makelele told the club's website. "We must absolutely stay in the leading pack and therefore we must no longer drop points."
Montpellier midfielder Younes Belhanda scored the winning goal on a counterattack, playing a one-two with Souleymane Camara to cut inside and beat Lille goalkeeper Mickael Landreau with a low shot in the 84th.
Lille has the most potent offense in the league but struggled to create chances, producing just one shot on target.
"Maybe it's a good thing to finally lose," Lille coach Rudi Garcia told Canal Plus television. "At least it will oblige us to question ourselves."
