Lyon surge ahead as Lille, Marseille held

Marseille's forward Peguy Luyindula (R) vies with Istres's defender Brahim Thiam (L) of Mali during their French L1 football match at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Lyon remained on track for a fourth consecutive French league title with a 3-2 derby win over St Etienne as title-chasers Marseille and Lille were both held.

Lyon move eight points clear of Marseille, who were held 1-1 by tailenders Istres at their Velodrome stronghold, as Lille, a further point behind in third, suffered their fifth straight draw with a goalless stalemate at home to Rennes.

"We're happy because we're continuing to play at a very high level," said Lyon coach Paul Le Guen after the success which comes on the back of their 3-0 Champions League win over Werder Bremen.

Marseille missed the chance to close the gap with a 49th minute goal from 25 metres out from Istres' Moussa Ndiaye being cancelled out by Laurent Batlles seven minutes later.

The draw however leaves Istres still rooted to the bottom of the table with just 22 points from 27 games.

Paris Saint Germain meanwhile achieved their first win in over two months with a 1-0 penalty victory over Bastia on Saturday.

The only goal came from a penalty from by Tunisia international midfielder Selim Benachour after 66 minutes following a foul on PSG defender Mario Yepes.

But victory was hollow for the side from the capital, who move up one spot to 12th position, as they played in front of an empty Parc des Princes stadium as punishment for match violence ironically during their last win which was against Metz in December.

Lyon's goals came from striker Sylvain Wiltord two minutes into first half injury time, with Florent Malouda putting them two ahead two minutes after the break, and Pierre-Alain Frau securing the third following after 49 minutes.

St Etienne, one of the biggest clubs in France in the 1970's and 1980's, kept up the pressure with Pascal Feindouno putting the visitors on the scoreboard after 56 minutes.

But despite Lyon threatening to go further ahead, St Etienne maintained the suspense until the whistle when Lilian Compan scored a second from the left after 90 minutes.

"I'm pleased with the win, even if we committed several silly errors towards the end we've come away with three points," said Le Guen.

"We could have won by a bigger margin, I think that's why we were a bit excited towards the end."

Monaco, meanwhile, stay rooted fourth, after following on their 1-0 Champions League loss to PSV Eindhoven midweek by falling 2-1 to lowly Nice who achieved their first win in nine games.

Florent Balmont put Nice ahead after 14 minutes, before David Gigliotti equalised with a bicycle kick after 59 minutes, and Ederson scored the winner seven minutes later with a superb shot from 40 metres out.

"I don't know if we have lost the title, let's just say the title is a long way off," admitted Monaco coach Didier Deschamps.

Elsewhere relegation-threatened Nantes achieved a valuable 2-1 win at home to Strasbourg, Bordeaux were held 2-2 by visiting Caen, while Lens came away with a goalless draw from Ajaccio.

Snow and freezing weather conditions forced the postponement of the Auxerre v Toulouse, and Sochauz v Metz matches.

French league table after Sunday's matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):