Aldo Angoula headed a late leveller as Evian fought back from two goals behind to deny St Etienne top spot after as 2-2 draw.
Christophe Galtier's visitors looked to be charging towards the summit when two Max Gradel goals put them in control.
However, Mohamed Rabiu pulled a goal back for Evian two minutes into the second half, and Angoula brought the teams level in the 79th minute.
There was still time for St Etienne, but the closest they went was when Alejandro Alonso struck the crossbar with a powerful drive.
Defending champions Montpellier held on for a point against Valenciennes despite playing for more than 30 minutes with 10 men.
Gaetan Charbonnier gave Montpellier the lead after 15 minutes, but the home side were level before the break thanks to Gregory Pujol.
Valenciennes looked strong favourites to go on and claim all three points when Jamel Saihi was sent off just 11 minutes into the second half, but the 10 men of Montpellier went closest to a winner when Souleymane Camara hit the post with an overhead kick.
Larsen Toure struck twice as Brest inflicted yet another away defeat on 10-man Bastia.
Toure opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time and Brest further strengthened their hold on the match when Bastia lost Francois Marque to a red card five minutes into the second half.
It took Brest just 11 minutes to make their numerical advantage count, Eden Ben Basat making it 2-0 from the penalty spot, before Toure notched his second in the 67th minute to complete the scoring.
The victory lifts Brest up to mid-table on 14 points, one more than Bastia who have now lost all seven of their away games in Ligue 1 this season.
A double salvo from Benjamin Nivet rescued a point for Troyes, denying fellow strugglers Nancy a rare victory in the process after a 3-3 draw.
Jean Fernandez's men had only five goals to their name going into the encounter, so hopes were understandably high when the visitors overturned Granddi Ngoyi's opener to build a 3-1 lead before the break, thanks to goals from Sebastian Puygrenier, Yohan Mollo and Andre Luiz.
But when Nivet narrowed the deficit to a single goal nine minutes from time, a frail and stretched Nancy could just not hold on, and the veteran midfielder duly earned Estac a point from the penalty spot.
Sochaux can look at the bottom of the Ligue 1 table with a little more ease after sealing a vital 1-0 win at Ajaccio.
Eric Hely's men started the weekend in the bottom three and in need of a win by any means. That this came via an 11th-minute Samuel Bohours own goal will not faze them one bit.
The fact that fellow strugglers Evian came back to draw 2-2 with St Etienne may not cheer them, though, but they can at least take heart from the fact that Evian have replaced them in the bottom three.
