Lyon suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at lowly Valenciennes after Ally Cissokho scored an unfortunate own goal at the Stade du Hainaut on Wednesday night.
Valenciennes scored the decisive goal on 28 minutes when Bafetimbi Gomis attempted to clear a Foued Kadir free-kick but only conspired to flick it up off Cissokho and into his own net.
It meant a third consecutive home league win for Valenciennes to move them out of the drop zone while Lyon missed the chance to head into the winter break inside the top two.
Valenciennes made a bright start and should have been ahead after four minutes when Vincent Aboubakar deflected the ball toward Gael Danic who, despite being unmarked and with just Hugo Lloris to beat, snatched at his shot to send it wide.
Danic was gifted another clear opening a minute later, when Aboubakar again set him clear, but he missed again albeit this time by just inches.
Lyon threatened for the first time on 23 minutes when Lisandro Lopez saw his fierce effort pushed away by Nicolas Penneteau before the hosts went ahead.
Kadir fizzed his free-kick into the centre of the area and striker Gomis made a hash of the clearance as he instead played it into the unlucky Cissokho who saw the ball rebound into the net.
VA could have had another before the break when Danic saw his goal-bound effort deflected wide by Cris, who had to leave the pitch soon after with a thigh injury.
After the break Gomis tried to make up for his first-half blunder when he made a good run and cross to tee up Alexandre Lacazette but his effort was blocked wide.
Valenciennes had chances for a second with Lloris saving from Aboubakar, after Danic this time set him up, before a Kadir free-kick flew just over.
The hosts then sat back in the final stages as they sought to defend their lead and, while they were rode their luck when Lisandro smacked an effort against the crossbar, Penneteau also made a good save from Lacazette in injury time to ensure the points.
