MONTPELLIER: Alexandre Lacazette netted a hat-trick as Lyon beat rivals Nice 4-1 on Sunday, while Lille passed up the opportunity to move into third place in Ligue 1 after conceding a late equaliser to bottom side Montpellier.
Lacazette scored twice in the first half, before putting the cherry on top for Lyon with a 69th-minute penalty to make it four for the hosts.
Sofiane Diop had equalised for Nice midway through the first period, before Lacazette and Jordan Veretout struck to open up a two-goal buffer at the interval.
Lyon move up to 22 points, two ahead of Nice in sixth place and one behind Marseille in third.
Lacazette sent his side ahead on four minutes, poking home a cross at full stretch.
Nice hit back in the 22nd minute as Diop did well to reach Mohamed-Ali Cho's back-post cross.
Lacazette and Veretout scored in the 41st and 43rd minutes to restore Lyon's lead, before the former Arsenal forward made the points safe with a second-half spot-kick.
Eighth-placed Auxerre went down 2-0 at Toulouse thanks to two goals in seven first-half minutes from Joshua King and a Vincent Sierro penalty.
Angers took an invaluable three points in the relegation battle with a 1-0 win against Le Havre, who drop into 16th spot.
Earlier, Jonathan David twice gave Lille the lead from the penalty spot in either half but Issiaga Sylla struck in first-half injury time and Arnaud Nordin then found a 93rd-minute leveller for Montpellier as the points were shared in a 2-2 draw.
"We offered far too little to be more dangerous (in the second half), to create more situations for ourselves and to put ourselves in the clear," said Lille coach Bruno Genesio.
"We know that in this kind of match, anything is possible right up to the end."
A draw leaves Lille still in fourth but with 23 points, the number amount as third-placed Marseille with Roberto De Zerbi's side in action later on Sunday against second-placed Monaco.
Montpellier stay rooted to the foot of the table, five points from safety.
Canadian attacker David broke the deadlock in the 44th minute as he sent Benjamin Lecomte the wrong way from 12 yards.
The lead only lasted three minutes with Sylla rising highest to glance home a corner on the stroke of half-time.
David was back to face Lecomte from the spot nine minutes into the second half as the referee decided following a lengthy VAR intervention to award a penalty for a trip on Remy Cabella.
The visitors appeared set to move to 25 points until the third minute of stoppage time.
Lille failed to clear the danger from a cross and after ping-ponging around the box, the ball landed for Nordin who finished gleefully from close range.
Montpellier forward Tanguy Coulibaly was sent off in the 99th minute for firing the ball at Genesio after a foul was given against the Frenchman.
In the chaotic aftermath of the incident, Lille substitute Mitchel Bakker was also given his marching orders.
Later, Marseille host Monaco with three points separating the pretenders to Paris Saint-Germain's title. - AFP