St Etienne 0-0 Sochaux
Valenciennes 3-1 Monaco
Montpellier 2-1 Le Mans
Nice 1-3 Marseille
Rennes 1-0 Lorient
Bordeaux 1-0 PSG
Boulogne 2-1 Lens
Grenoble 1-0 Toulouse
Auxerre 1-3 Nancy
Lille 4-3 Lyon
Grenoble's miserable season finally got a boost this weekend as their recent improved performances finally helped them to a win at the fifteenth time of asking. Ten minutes from time in a scrappy game, Grenoble got the goal that saw them double their points tally in one easy step. They'd had the better chances throughout and finally made the breakthrough when overworked TFC keeper Olivier Blondel couldn't hold Danijel Ljuboja's free-kick and Nicolas Dieuze was johnny-on-the-spot to prod in the loose ball and send the crowd up in the Alps wild.
That result overshadows game of the weekend which came at Lille where the home side were on the wrong end of a Lisandro Lopez hat-trick before mounting a terrific fightback. The Argentine's first came in just the second minute, beating Mickael Landreau at his near-post and he added a penalty twenty minutes later. Hugo Lloris spilled Gervinho's shot right onto Pierre-Alain Frau's head as Lille pulled one back, but Lopez added his third before the break, cutting in off the left flank and firing home with his right. Eight minutes into the second half, Gervinho got on the scoresheet himself, tucking one in at the back post and a Yohan Cabaye penalty squared it up with twenty minutes to go. With seconds of stoppage time remaining, Gervinho got free in the box and tucked in a dramatic late winner from close range.
Auxerre looka completely different side to the one that made it to the top of the league as they were humbled at home by Nancy. Andre Luiz put the Lorraine side in front, but they went into half-time level thanks to Valter Birsa. The second half was all Nancy, Abdeslam Ouaddou and Youssuf Hadji getting the goals their performance deserved, though Bocundji Ca's late dismissal spoiled it a little. With all others falling by the wayside, Bordeaux opened up a lead at the top by halting PSG's recent revival. Jaroslav Plasil nodded in the only goal of the game halfway through the first half as the champions opened up a four-point gap. That gap is now back to Montpellier who beat ten-man Le Mans. Karim Ait Fana put them in front before Mathieu Dossevi was sent off moments from half-time. Anthony Le Tallec equalised, but numerical superiority told with Lilian Compan grabbing the winner. Valenciennes are up to third thanks to their recent run. Late goals from Mamadou Samassa and Fahid Ben Khalfallah won it for VA after Nene's penalty had equalised David Ducourtioux's opener.
Lorient also lost ground on the leaders, beaten by Moussa Sow's second minute strike, while Marseille got back to winning ways at Nice. Mamadou Niang is back and opened the scoring twenty minutes in. Kafoumba Coulibaly equalised, but Nice were reduced to ten men on the stroke of half-time, Onyekachi Apam sent off. Lucho Gonzalez eventually made the pressure count, volleying in from Niang's knock-down, and Bakary Koné made it safe in the dying moments. St Etienne had keeper Jeremie Janot to thank for a string of outstanding saves that kept Sochaux out at the Geoffroy-Guichard, earning Les Verts a valuable point while Boulogne ended a run of four straight defeats by overcoming the early dismissal of Mame N'Diaye to beat Lens. After N'Diaye picked up a second yellow card in just the 16th minute, Boulogne made their job more difficult by putting Lens in front, Bira Dembele heading past his own keeper. Ovidy Karuru equalised on 38 minutes and Lens returned an earlier favour on the stroke of half-time when Romain Sartre scoring an own goal as a free-kick pinballed round the area.
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