Lyon leapfrog beaten Bordeaux

Ligue 1 titleholders FC Girondins de Bordeaux suffered a third consecutive defeat in all competitions as they lost 2-1 at home to AS Nancy-Lorraine, allowing their UEFA Champions League opponents Olympique Lyonnais to move a point clear at the top.

League Cup final losers to Olympique de Marseille last weekend and beaten 3-1 by Lyon in Tuesday's quarter-final opener in Europe, Bordeaux were unable to respond on their return to defending the title. Youssouf Hadji (18) fired Nancy ahead from close range at the Stade Chaban-Delmas and despite Fernando Cavenaghi's leveller following a corner ten minutes later, Issiar Dia ran more than half the length of the pitch before settling the encounter with 18 minutes left.

Their seventh league reverse of the season removed Laurent Blanc's men from pole position because Lyon triumphed 2-1 at Stade Rennais FC. Les Gones have contested two games more than their closest rivals but they warmed up for Wednesday's quarter-final decider in perfect fashion, Michel Bastos (53) and Lisandro (61) conjuring second-half responses to Asamoah Gyan's 15th-minute effort for seventh-placed Rennes.

Bordeaux now find themselves as low as third, in fact, as Montpellier Hérault SC joined Lyon on 57 points at the top. The promoted side, who have also played two more games than the champions, were nonetheless left with a sense of frustration after they could only draw 0-0 with AS Monaco FC.

Ambitious LOSC Lille Métropole missed the chance to keep up pressure on the frontrunners as they slumped 1-0 at fellow northern club Valenciennes FC, a result that dropped them down to fifth but just three points from the summit. Elsewhere, AS Saint-Etienne put a little more distance between themselves and the teams in the relegation zone by beating second-bottom Le Mans UC 72 2-0, basement outfit Grenoble Foot 38 lost 2-1 at home to FC Lorient and the game between OGC Nice and FC Sochaux-Montbéliard finished goalless.