Mamadou Niang scored twice to help Marseille beat Lyon 3-1 in the French league on Sunday.
Lyon remained atop the standings with 67 points, six points clear of second-place Bordeaux after 32 games.
Marseille kept pace with Nancy in the race for a Champions League berth, remaining fourth with 52 points.
In Sunday’s only other match, Nancy edged Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 to consolidate their third place.
Djibril Cisse opened the scoring for Marseille in the 26th minute off a pass from Samir Nasri. The France forward took a touch before firing in from 16m.
Cisse fed Senegal striker Niang, who beat Francois Clerc to the ball to shoot past Lyon goalkeeper Gregory Coupet in the 28th.
Lyon halved Marseille’s lead in the 45th with an own-goal from Albania centerback Lorik Cana, who deflected in a free kick from Juninho.
Niang scored his 15th goal this season in the 54th to seal the win, heading in a corner kick from Benoit Cheyrou.
“Tactically, we had a good game. We did not give anything away. We pulled for each other,” Marseille midfielder Benoit Cheyrou said.
Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda made some big saves, jumping to block Mathieu Bodmer’s header off a corner kick from Juninho in the first half, saving another close-range shot from Bodmer in the second, and diving to turn away a powerful strike from Sweden international Kim Kallstrom in the 85th, then denying France winger Sidney Govou in the 88th.
Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan injured his left knee tackling Nasri in the opening minutes and was taken off on a stretcher.
Marc-Antoine Fortune outjumped Sylvain Armand to head in a cross from David Sauget in the 68th for Nancy’s only goal.
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