Ligue 1 leaders Lyon were held to a scoreless draw by Monaco, leaving their margin over trailing Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain at a mere two points.
The leaders had won their previous six league games but without injured top marksman Alexandre Lacazette -- 21 goals in 22 Ligue 1 matches -- they were unable to breach a mean Monaco defence at the Stade Louis II on Sunday night.
Monaco failed to claim the victory required to move into the top four, but yet another clean sheet means Leonardo Jardim's team have now gone a remarkable 13 games without conceding in regular time.
Bordeaux were held 1-1 by Guingamp in their Ligue 1 clash at Stade Jacques Chaban-Delmas, a result which does little to their chances of qualifying for Europe.
Mid-table Guingamp took the lead after 28 minutes through Claudio Beauvue before the home side levelled after 55 minutes through Maxime Poundje.
And their chances of forcing a winner were dealt a major blow when Jaroslav Plasil saw red towards the end.
Caen continued their impressive start to the year as Julien Feret scored the only goal to seal a victory over St. Etienne and move Patrice Garande's side out of the Ligue 1 relegation zone.
Garande has now guided Caen to three league wins out of four since the return from the winter break and this was arguably the most high-profile yet as it came against Champions League-chasing St Etienne - who have now gone three without a win.
Feret struck five minutes before the interval to wrap up the points for the hosts as Christope Galtier's visitors failed to test Caen goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre until deep into the second half.