Nice produced a clinical 3-2 win at home to Lyon on Saturday as they denied the visitors the chance to go top of Ligue 1.
Victory for Paulo Fonseca’s Lyon would have seen them leapfrog champions Paris Saint-Germain at the summit but instead a frustrating one-goal loss condemned them to remain fourth on 15 points.
PSG drew 3-3 at home to second-placed Strasbourg on Friday, offering the chance to rivals Marseille and Lyon to take first place.
Marseille, third, host lowly Le Havre later on Saturday.
Lyon assistant coach Jorge Maciel said the side need “maturity and guile at key moments (in matches)” after defeat at Nice.
“If we have to score four goals to win in Ligue 1, it’s going to be difficult,” the Portuguese added.
Melvin Bard gave eighth-placed Nice the lead with five minutes on the clock as he fired a fine first-time finish past Dominik Greif after racing onto Sofiane Diop’s inviting ball across the box from the right flank.
The away side levelled just shy of the half-hour when Pavel Sulc nodded in a flick-on from a corner.
Diop restored the hosts’ lead in the 35th minute with what was just their second shot on target of the match.
The danger again came from the right-hand side as a flighted ball was headed back across the six-yard box by Mohamed-Ali Cho and the Moroccan tucked home from a tight angle.
Lyon were awarded a spot-kick shortly after half-time but former Arsenal man Ainsley Maitland-Niles failed to beat goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf from 12 yards as Nice were let off.
The home side immediately took advantage of the reprieve as midfielder Hicham Boudaoui finished a breakaway with an unerring strike that curved away from Greif and into the Slovakian’s far corner on 55 minutes.
Sulc headed in his second of the match for Lyon five minutes into added time, but Nice held firm to see out the three points.
Elsewhere on Saturday, fifth-placed Monaco sit one point behind Lyon after being held to a 1-1 draw at second-last Angers.
United States forward Folarin Balogun put the principality side in the lead on 72 minutes.
But Sidiki Cherif hit back with five minutes remaining to earn a valuable point for the strugglers.
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