Olympique Lyon stayed four points clear at the top of Ligue 1 despite slumping to a 1-0 defeat at Le Mans.

Brazilian forward Tulio collected a headed pass from midfielder Hassan Yebda to score the winner from close range on 71 minutes.

Lyon, who host Manchester United in their Champions League first knockout round first leg on Wednesday, were sluggish throughout as Le Mans carved out the best chances.

"It's a disappointment because we wanted revenge," said striker Hatem Ben Arfa, referring to Lyon's French League Cup elimination by Le Mans last month.

"Now we must focus on Manchester United," Ben Arfa told his club's official website.

"We will need to play much better than we did tonight but we must believe in ourselves.

"I believe we can get a good result."

Nancy stayed third, eight points off the pace, after a 4-0 defeat at St Etienne featuring two goals from forward Batefimbi Gomis.

Fourth-placed Nice are only one point above Le Mans after they drew 0-0 at Lens.

Bottom club Metz grabbed only their second win of the season with a 2-1 win over Valenciennes, with goals from Babacar Gueye and an own goal from Williams Martinez doing the damage.

They are still 12 points away from Sochaux, who drew 1-1 with Caen, while Toulouse remain three points from safety after they lost 1-0 at Auxerre.

Meanwhile, Rennes lost 3-1 at Lille and Lorient beat Strasbourg 1-0.

Second-placed Girondins Bordeaux can move within a point of the leaders by winning at Monaco on Sunday.

Seventh-placed Olympique Marseille will move up to fourth if they triumph at home to arch rivals Paris St Germain on Sunday.

Reuters