Leading duo Marseille and Bordeaux both won, while Le Havre were relegated.
Marseille and Bordeaux march on as Le Havre lose relegation fight
Leading duo Marseille and Bordeaux both won, while Le Havre were relegated.
Marseille extended their unbeaten run to 13 games with a comfortable 2-0 win against a
Nice side with little left to play for in the league.
Mamadou Niang set Marseille on their way with the opening goal on 25 minutes and Brandao added a second on the hour mark.
Bordeaux remain behind Marseille on goal difference only after claiming an eighth consecutive win at
Valenciennes.
They had to come from behind to prevail 2-1 after Gael Danic's strike in the 21st minute, with Fernando Menegazzo getting the equaliser six minutes before half-time.
Siaka Tiene was then sent off for Bordeaux on 84 minutes and Yoann Gourcuff pounced moments later to keep the title race tantalisingly poised with three games remaining.
There was still time for Valenciennes to capitulate completely and the home side finished the game with nine men following the late dismissal of Luigi Pieroni.
Paris St Germain boosted their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League by seeing off
Le Mans 1-0.
Former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman was the hero, scoring the only goal of a tight contest after 19 minutes.
The battle between fifth and sixth ended in stalemate as
Toulouse and
Lille played out a goalless draw at Stadium Municipal.
Le Havre will be playing in the second tier of French football next season after their relegation was confirmed following a dramatic 4-2 defeat to fellow strugglers
St Etienne.
St Etienne took the lead through Araujo Ilan on four minutes but Le Havre came storming back with goals from Mamadou Diallo (12) and Massamba Sambou (18).
Moustapha Bayal made it 2-2 after 46 minutes and Kevin Mirallas then put St Etienne 3-2 ahead in the 69th minute.
Emmanuel Riviere then struck again in the dying stages to take St Etienne out of the bottom three.
Caen replace them after losing 1-0 to European hopefuls
Rennes, with Petter Hasson finding the target after 60 minutes.
Sochaux eased their relegation worries with a convincing 3-0 success at home to
Monaco.
Marvin Martin made the breakthrough in the 19th minute before Francois Modesto doubled Sochaux's advantage early in the second half.
Vaclav Sverkos then fired in a third after 70 minutes to lift Sochaux two points clear of the drop zone.
Nancy were made to pay for having a man sent off as
Lorient came from behind to hold them to a 2-2 draw.
Rafik Saifi opened the scoring for Nancy in the 27th minute before Abdeslam Ouaddou was dismissed seven minutes later.
Joel Sami scored a second for Nancy just after half-time but Kevin Gameiro bagged a brace (53 and 81) to secure a point for Lorient.
Auxerre cruised to a fourth successive victory as they overcame
Grenoble 2-0, Ireneusz Jelen providing the inspiration with a goal in each half.
