Reims remain nine points adrift of the final Champions League spot in Ligue 1 despite winning 1-0 against Brest.
Predrag Rajkovic was the main reason for the clean sheet, and the subsequent three points gained as he made four saves in regular play to keep Brest at bay.
However, in his key moment of the game, he saved a penalty from Alexandre Mendy which would have seen the visitors take the lead, which allowed Reims to go on and steal the opener just eight minutes later.
He also lost possession just five times which is remarkable for a keeper distributing out from the back.
Marseille could only manage a 2-2 draw at home to Amiens, but Morgan Sanson did his best to claim the win as he contributed to both of their goals.
He scored the only goal of the first half, with a little help from the opposition keeper, as he initially glided past a couple of challenges before lashing a central shot at goal which Regis Gurtner somehow allowed between his hands.
Marseille's second was all about the run and finish from Dimitri Payet, but he received the ball in the first place after Sanson swept a lovely pass out wide.
He completed a sensational 27/28 attempted passes, and won 10/18 duels.
Rennes made it three wins on the bounce to maintain their one-point lead over Lille in the race for third after destroying Montpellier 5-0.
Flavien Tait emerged as the man of the match with a goal and an assist.
It was the assist that came first for the second goal as he burst in behind the opposition defence via the left channel before unselfishly squaring to Adrien Hunou for the simple finish.
There was nothing simple about Tait's goal, though, as he cut inside from the left wing on to his right foot to whip a cracking finish into the right corner from the very edge of the area.
He sent 20 passes into the final third, completed five dribbles, and won 9/15 duels.
Nimes lost their third game in a row after being defeated 2-1 by Metz, with Lucas Deaux unlucky to be on the losing side.
Not long after half-time, it was his goal that made it all square after he drifted in at the back post to smuggle a finish home after the precise cross from Yassine Benrahou.
Metz would eventually score again, but Deaux fought bravely in midfield, winning 6/11 duels, and 100% of his tackles (5/5), as well as making six ball recoveries.
Nice maintained pace with fifth-place Reims after narrowly overcoming Monaco 2-1, with Kasper Dolberg scoring both goals for the home side.
It took the Dane a while took get into the game, but he eventually equalised for Nice with a glancing header into the bottom corner after the cross form Adam Ounas.
Then, when it looked destined to be a 1-1 draw, he popped up three minutes into injury time, darting ahead of the Monaco goalkeeper to turn a deft finish home at the front post.
He had three goalscoring chances, and scored two of them.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Kevin Strootman (8.1) impressed in midfield for Marseille, gaining an assist for Sanson and completing 62/72 passes, as well as 10/18 duels and making 11 ball recoveries.
ROUND TO FORGET
Angers striker Rachid Alioui (5.2) was pretty hopeless up front after coming on with 15 minutes to go, as he had zero shots, lost all of his six duels, and completed just two passes.