Saturday 14 March 2015 22:49, UK
Ivory Coast winger Max-Alain Gradel scored for the fourth straight match as Saint-Etienne secured a 3-2 win at struggling Metz.
Goals from Gradel, Mevlut Erding and Yohan Mollo - all three assisted by Romain Hamouma - allowed St Etienne to immediately close the gap opened up by Monaco when they beat Bastia 3-0 on Friday evening.
After Gradel and Erding struck late in the first half, Metz halved the deficit through Kevin Lejeune, but Mollo gave St Etienne the breathing space they needed before Yeni N'Gbakoto's stoppage-time penalty.
Lucas Barrios scored a brace to reignite Montpellier's push for Europe with a 3-1 win against Reims.
Montpellier suffered a 5-1 loss against Lyon last week, but bounced back in style, with Barrios getting it started after only three minutes.
He had made it 2-0 before Prince Oniangue pulled a goal back late on, and Montpellier had the final word through Morgan Sanson in time added on.
Lorient returned to winning ways as they claimed a much-needed 2-1 victory over 10-man Caen at the Stade du Moustoir.
Herve Bazile put the visitors ahead three minutes before the break, but Raphael Guerreiro struck back against his former club moments later with a quick-fire equaliser to level matters at half-time before Jordan Ayew claimed a 60th-minute winner.
The victory - which came after consecutive defeats - moved Sylvain Ripoll's men up two spots to 15th as they sit level on points with their opponents and five points above the relegation zone.
Lens gave their own survival hopes a much-needed shot in the arm as they ended a nine-game winless run by beating fellow strugglers Toulouse 1-0 at Stade de la Licorne.
Antoine Kombouare's men had lost their preceding four matches in the league, while their recent run had included six defeats.
So it will be of some relief to the northern club that they claimed a battling 1-0 victory on Saturday night, with Pablo Chavarria's 76th-minute goal the difference between the two teams.
It was a win that moved them seven points adrift of safety and only four behind 18th-placed Toulouse, who have now lost three of their last four.
Nantes eased their relegation concerns with a 2-1 win over an Evian side who are still very much in trouble at the foot of the table.
Goals either side of the half-time break from Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Serge Gakpe put Nantes in charge and they held on for the win despite Evian pulling one back through Clarck Nsikulu.
The result sees Nantes climb up to eighth on 39 points, 10 above the drop zone, with Evian remaining just three points clear of danger.
