Rennes lost in the French league for the first time since August on Sunday when Swedish defender Petter Hansson scored an own goal to give Lille a 1-0 win.
The defeat was only the second this campaign for Rennes, which had not lost since a 1-0 reverse at Grenoble on Aug. 17 and coach Guy Lacombe’s team was unbeaten in its previous 18 matches heading into this weekend’s matches.
Lille’s winner came in the 75th minute when Michel Bastos crossed from the left for striker Nicolas Fauvergue, whose shot was heading wide until it clipped Hansson’s leg and wrong-footed goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez.
Lyon tops the league with 42 points after 21 games, while Bordeaux has 41 points, and Marseille 38 in third place.
Rennes remains in fourth place with 37 points, staying ahead of fifth-place Toulouse on goal difference.
The win moved Lille up to seventh place with 35 points, one point behind sixth-place Paris Saint-Germain.
Earlier Sunday, strikers Peguy Luyindula and Guillaume Hoarau scored a goal each to help PSG beat Sochaux 2-1.
PSG lost ground after a crushing 4-0 defeat at Bordeaux last weekend but bounced back for its 11th win of the season against a resilient Sochaux team which briefly drew level through new signing Vaclav Sverkos.
Hoarau gave PSG the lead from the penalty spot on the stroke of halftime, Sverkos pulled a goal back five minutes after the restart, but Luyindula sealed victory in the 63rd.
Also, Monaco threw away a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Caen. Monaco is in 14th spot with 24 points, while Caen is 13th with the same points tally but a better goal difference.
Monaco’s goals came from Juan Pablo Pino in the sixth minute and Alejandro Alonso in the 24th, while Steve Savidan replied in the 72nd and Benjamin Nivet grabbed a point for Caen in the 90th.
At Parc des Princes, Sochaux was fortunate not to have goalkeeper Jeremy Gavanon sent off in the 11th minute when he rushed outside his area to handle the ball as Luyindula raced through.
Luyindula then missed an open goal from two meters, Hoarau blazed over close range, and midfielder Jeremy Clement’s shot was saved by Gavanon as PSG wasted chances.
PSG midfielder Claude Makelele carelessly lost possession several times, but Sochaux created little until a goalmouth scramble saw a loose ball narrowly evade striker Mevlut Erding in the 45th.
PSG cleared the ball straight up the field and Stephane Sessegnon collected it down the left, skipped past his marker and slipped a pass to Jerome Rothen inside the penalty area. Rothen was tripped just as he was about to shoot, and Hoarau curled the resulting spot-kick into the bottom left corner, just out of Gavanon’s reach.
Sochaux equalized when Sverkos found space outside the penalty area to hit a low shot past goalie Mickael Landreau.
PSG regained the lead when Zoumana Camara headed Rothen’s corner toward goal and Luyindula stroked the ball under Gavanon.
On Saturday, Lyon won 2-0 at Grenoble to revive its bid for an eighth straight title.
Bordeaux won 2-1 at Nantes.
Also Saturday, it was: Marseille 2, Le Havre 0; Toulouse 3, Nancy 0; Saint-Etienne 1, Le Mans 1; Lorient 1, Valenciennes 1; and Nice 2, Auxerre 0.
