St Etienne inflicted a first defeat since August on Lyon, doing so emphatically with a 3-0 derby success at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
The visitors had gone 11 matches since last losing a game, at Metz, but never looked like taking anything from the game.
Mustapha Bayal Sall's header gave les Verts the lead after 18 minutes and Ricky van Wolfswinkel doubled their advantage five minutes before the break.
Renaud Cohade made the points safe with a neat finish in the second half and Alexandre Lacazette missed a penalty that would have given les Gones something to celebrate.
Bordeaux returned to winning ways with a narrow 1-0 victory against struggling Lille.
Cheikh Diabate's sixth goal of the season proved enough for Les Girondins as they recovered from a disappointing defeat in Marseille last time out, a result which brought to an end a run of two straight league wins.
The visitors have suffered contrasting fortunes of late and another defeat away from home extends their unwanted record of having not won a game in their last 10 in all competitions.
Evian made it back-to-back home wins to move out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 victory over bottom side Guingamp at the Parc des Sports d'Annecy.
Goals from Denmark internationals Daniel Wass and Nicki Billie Nielsen ensured a fifth win of the campaign and backed up their defeat of Nice last time out.
Wass conjured a fine free-kick to break the deadlock just before the hour mark, with Nielsen making it safe nine minutes from time.