Promoted Brest moved to the top of the French league standings with a 2-0 win over Saint-Etienne on Saturday, while the showdown between titleholder Marseille and Rennes was postponed for a day because of a waterlogged field.
Mario Licka opened Brest's account in the 79th minute with a header from Bruno Grouji's cross, five minute before Romain Poyet concluded a counterattack with a curled shot under the crossbar.
Brest leads the standings with 21 points from 11 games, two more than Rennes, while defending champion Marseille was third with 18 points.
Brest claimed its sixth win of the season and has not conceded a goal in its last eight games.
"This is a great surprise," coach Alex Dupont said. "They are surprising me match after match. I love my players' enthusiasm and generosity, but they also pleased me with the quality of their play. They played well against a difficult Saint-Etienne team."
The top-of-the-table match between Marseille and Rennes scheduled for late Saturday was postponed because of heavy rains. Officials at Stade Velodrome said the pitch was flooded and not playable. It was rescheduled for Sunday, subject to a pitch inspection.
"Hopefully we will play tomorrow afternoon," said Marseille sports director Jose Anigo. "Let's wait and see if the weather improves."
At Stade Gerland, substitute Alexandre Lacazette scored the winner as Lyon claimed a laborious 2-1 win over Sochaux.
Against a team boasting a miserable away record with five losses in as many matches this season, Lyon struggled to create chances and looked poised for another embarrassing result before Lacazette dummied a defender and slotted home to give his team a much-needed win in the 69th minute.
Lyon, which was handed a 2-1 midweek home loss by Paris Saint-Germain in the League Cup that followed a disappointing 1-1 draw at last-place Arles, moved up to eighth in the standings with 15 points.
Lyon striker Lisandro didn't play while France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris returned to the team after being rested against PSG.
Claude Puel's team dominated the early exchanges but struggled to create chances until France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff led a swift counterattack and fed the ball to midfielder Michel Bastos, who slotted home with a left-footed strike in the 29th minute.
Lloris made a decisive save just after halftime when he denied forward Ideye Brown's effort in the 50th minute following a nice collective move.
Sochaux was rewarded in the 68th when Brown collected a cross from the right to score from close range.
Lacazette, who replaced Bastos in the 42nd, scored against the run of the play to boost his team's morale ahead of next week's Champions League match at Benfica.
Also on Saturday, Auxerre beat Nice 2-0, Nancy won 3-2 at Caen, Lorient defeated Arles 2-0 and Toulouse was held to a 1-1 draw by Lens.
Sixth-place Montpellier hosts PSG on Sunday while Bordeaux travels to Monaco and Valenciennes plays Lille in the northern derby.
