The highly-anticipated clash between the top two teams in France did not disappoint. PSG's expensively-assembled squad went in front thanks to a ferociously-struck free-kick from January signing Alex on 41 minutes, but two minutes into added time at the end of the first half Younes Belhanda equalised to dampen the hosts' spirits at a boisterous Parc. The home crowd were quieter still when John Utaka pounced eight minutes from time to leave Carlo Ancelotti facing his first defeat at PSG coach, but Hoarau's first league goal of the campaign six minutes later ensured the Italian's unbeaten record and PSG's position remained intact.

"It's not possible to win every match," said Ancelotti, whose side were held goalless at OGC Nice last weekend, and remain just a point clear of Montpellier, who could see their margin for error cut to five points by LOSC Lille Métropole when the champions face FC Sochaux-Montbéliard in their rescheduled Week 22 fixture on Wednesday. "It's a fair result. We had a few problems in building our play from the back and getting the ball back, but the players worked well and their reaction after Montpellier's second goal was good. We didn't want to lose the game, and their reaction was fantastic."

Lille closed the gap on the top two and strengthened their hold on third place, but had a nervous wait before finally breaking down FC Lorient in Brittany. The reigning Ligue 1 champions had won only once on six previous visits to Lorient, and struggled to break down the impressively well-organised hosts until full-back Mathieu Debuchy struck 13 minutes from time to get his team back to winning ways. "I wasn't worried, because we could have won our last two matches," said Lille coach Rudi Garcia, who had seen his side beaten by Valenciennes in the French Cup and lose again to Girondins de Bordeaux 5-4 in a remarkable see-saw encounter last weekend. "There could have been more goals, particularly for Lorient, but Mickaël [Landreau] was extraordinary. It's a good win."

The three points would have tasted all the sweeter given the results of their closest challengers for a place on the podium. Olympique de Marseille moved into fourth place, three points behind Lille, but would have been hoping for more from their home encounter with Valenciennes FC only for Gil (51') to earn the northerners a point by cancelling out Alou Diarra's 16th-minute opener for the hosts.

Olympique Lyonnais, who have played a game more than Lille and Marseille dropped into fifth as they fell victim to Bordeaux's recent resurgence - Yoan Gouffran's eighth goal of the season, four minutes before the break, earned Francis Gillot's men a fourth win in a five-game unbeaten run since the turn of the year. AS Saint-Etienne, who also have a game in hand on OL, made it a quartet of teams on 39 points as they produced the performance of the weekend in sweeping aside Stade Rennais FC 4-0 to leapfrog their opponents into sixth.

Things are equally tense at the opposite end of the table where the goalless draw between bottom side FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, who have now not won in ten league outings, and third-from-bottom AJ Auxerre left seven teams within four points of each other at the foot of the standings. While OGC Nice remain in the relegation zone after being soundly beaten at Dijon FCO, for whom Gaël Kakuta opened the scoring a minute before the break, AC Ajaccio could have given themselves breathing space but for striker Eduardo to miss a penalty as they drew 0-0 at home to Stade Brestois 29.

SM Caen would have been up into mid-table had former French international Sidney Govou not scored his first Ligue 1 goal for Evian TG FC to salvage last season's Ligue 2 winners a 2-2 draw in Normandy. There was no rescue act for AS Nancy Lorraine, however, as they were soundly beaten 3-0 at home by Toulouse FC to end the weekend two points above the drop zone while the south-westerners are two points off fourth.

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