A Souleymane Camara strike and an own goal from Benoit Costil helped Montpellier ease past Rennes 2-0 and re-establish their three-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.
Senegal international Camara opened the scoring after 26 minutes with a close range finish, while goalkeeper Costil's unfortunate second-half own goal moved the visitors clear of closest challengers Paris St Germain.
It was a huge win for La Paillade, who are now firm favourites to claim their first league title with just two fixtures remaining.
Lille made certain of a top-three finish and a place in the Champions League with a comfortable 3-0 victory over mid-table Caen.
Les Dogues made it six wins on the trot with two goals from Tulio De Melo, the first from the penalty spot, plus a second-half strike from Dimitri Payet.
The win leaves Lille 12 points clear of fourth-placed Lyon, who can no longer overtake their rivals with just three games remaining.
Rudi Garcia's men also kept alive their outside hopes of a successful title defence, with Montpellier and PSG still within reach.
Sebastien Roudet's late strike lifted Sochaux from the bottom of the table as they secured a crucial 1-0 win over Nancy at the Stade Bonal.
The midfielder raced into the box with five minutes left on the clock and lobbed Nancy goalkeeper Guy N'Dy to claim Sochaux's eighth win of the campaign.
The result moves Sochaux out of the relegation zone, with Auxerre falling to the bottom of the table after Yoan Gouffran set Bordeaux on their way to 4-2 victory.
Gouffran netted a brace inside the opening five minutes, while Ludovic Sane added a third in the ninth minute, with Jaroslav Plasil all but ending the game as a contest two minutes after half-time.
To their credit, Alain Traore and Olivier Kapo pulled goals back for the hosts but it was a case of too little, too late.
Dijon missed the chance to drag Lorient back into the relegation mire as they were held to a goalless draw at the Stade du Moustoir.
The visitors went into the game one place and one point off the bottom of the table, a point adrift of safety and four behind their 13th-placed hosts.
That was also how the night ended, despite the movement among the other teams at the foot of the table, as a goalless stalemate ensued.
Nice edged a point closer to safety by holding Europe-chasing Toulouse to a 0-0 draw.
The visitors struck the bar and Toulouse a post in the first half, but neither side could make the breakthrough.
The draw left Nice three points above the bottom three with two games to go, while Toulouse dropped a place to eighth.
St Etienne remained in the hunt for a European place, despite being held to a goalless draw at home to Marseille.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came closest to scoring for the hosts when his shot came back off the bar.
