Monaco defeat Nantes, Lyon bounce back

AS Monaco FC restored their six-point Ligue 1 advantage over third-placed LOSC Lille courtesy of a 3-1 victory against FC Nantes.

With Paris Saint-Germain seemingly out of sight courtesy of their 16-point lead at the start of the day, Monaco took on Nantes more concerned with protecting second place and France's last UEFA Champions League automatic qualifying berth.

LOSC's 2-1 success against Toulouse FC on Saturday had increased the pressure, but Claudio Ranieri's men began their response when James Rodríguez turned in Dimitar Berbatov's cross on 18 minutes. Andrea Raggi then headed in a corner 18 minutes from time and Rodríguez converted a penalty, before Alejandro Bedoya reduced the deficit.

Earlier in the day, Olympique Lyonnais regained ground on fourth-placed AS Saint-Étienne with a 2-1 victory at Valenciennes FC, a week after losing to Les Verts in the Rhone derby. Bafétimbi Gomis gave the visitors the lead with his 100th Ligue 1 goal on 29 minutes, and although Majeed Waris levelled halfway through the second period, Jordan Ferri struck from distance soon afterwards.

The hosts then lost Marco Da Silva to a red card but had a chance to level when Ferri handled in the area with four minutes remaining. Anthony Lopes dived left to deny Waris from the spot and secure Lyon the spoils, with Rémi Garde's men now four points shy of St-Étienne, who required Max Gradel's added-time penalty to salvage a 1-1 home draw with OGC Nice.