A sublime goal by Souleymane Camara earned surprise package Montpellier a 1-0 victory at Toulouse on Saturday that took them to within a point of French league leaders Bordeaux.
Camara struck with a stunning half-volley in the 11th minute of the match at the Stadium Municipal to extend his side's unbeaten run to four matches and keep them firmly in the title picture after their promotion last season.
"I'm happy to have scored such a nice goal but the three points are what really matter to me," said Camara.
"We're in second place tonight but our aim remains to avoid relegation and we'll see where we finish at the end of the season."
Reigning champions Bordeaux can go four points clear at the Ligue 1 summit with victory at stuttering Lyon in Sunday's late game.
Lille are now just three points off the top in third place after scoring four goals for the fourth successive league game in a 4-0 victory at Monaco, although they have played two games more than both the teams above them.
"We're in a good moment," said Lille coach Rudi Garcia.
"The important thing was to do everything in order to win. We put ourselves in danger in the first half. But for our fifth match in 15 days, we were in good shape physically."
Paris Saint-Germain responded to their 1-0 defeat at Bordeaux last weekend by soundly beating Saint-Etienne 3-0 at the Parc des Princes.
Two goals in the space of two minutes by Peguy Luyindula and Stephane Sessegnon put the hosts 2-0 up inside 13 minutes and Mevlut Erding made sure of the points by converting Christophe Jallet's free-kick six minutes before the interval.
In the day's other game, Sochaux climbed away from the relegation zone by beating bottom club Grenoble 1-0.
Marseille moved to within three points of Bordeaux by defeating Boulogne 2-0 on Saturday, when there were also wins for third-bottom Le Mans, Lens and improving Rennes.
Copyright 2009  AFP Global Edition
