Toulouse missed out on the chance to move third in Ligue 1 on Saturday, while Nantes and Nancy claimed vital wins.
Grenoble’s Laurent Courtois converted a spot-kick six minutes before the break to dent Toulouse’s Champions League hopes.
St Etienne boosted their survival hopes with a vital 2-1 win over Champions League chasers Lille at Le Chaudron on Saturday, with Ilan and Bafetimbi Gomis giving Les Verts a two-goal lead and Nicolas Fauvergue bagging a consolation that proved useless.
In a six-pointer between strugglers, Nancy bagged three priceless points away at Caen’s Stade d’Ornano (2-1).
Youssouf Hadji opened the scoring in the first minute of the game from close range, and Sambou Yatabare equalised for the home side just before half-time when he fired a missile of a shot into the top corner. Geoffrey Adjet restored his team’s lead with five minutes to go with a glorious winner.
Monaco hammered Rennes 3-1 in the Principality thanks to Juan-Pablo Pino’s brace and Jerko Leko’s penalty, while Bruno Cheyrou scored a consolation and Lucien Aubey saw red for Stade Rennais.
Nantes scored twice to beat Nice, and celebrated a huge victory in the fight against relegation. Christian Bekamenga netted a half-volley for the Canaries before former Bolton defender Gerald Cid saw red for Nice.
Mamadou Bagayoko finished the work off a minute before time.
Auxerre star Thomas Kahlenberg broke Sochaux fans’ heart when he scored the 85th-minute winner at Stade Abbey-Deschamps (1-0).
Gregory Cerdan’s missile from 30 yards was diverted into his own goal by VA’s defence, and former Liverpool flop Anthony le Taller scored his second goal in a row, in Le Mans’ 2-0 win away to Valenciennes.