Lille eased their path towards the Champions League with a 2-1 French league victory over Lens here on Saturday as fellow challengers Marseille and Monaco slipped up.
With runaway leaders Lyon hosting Paris Saint Germain on Sunday, the chasing pack had a chance to close the gap and Lille responded.
Goals from Matt Moussilou and Nicolas Fauvergue launched second-placed Lille three points ahead of Marseille, who lost 2-1 against Ajaccio, and four points in front of Monaco, who drew 1-1 at Sochaux.
Second spot means an automatic berth into the money spinning Champions League, and Lille are right on target to hit the jackpot. Third spot would mean a qualifying round would have to be negotiated with the fourth-placed team in the UEFA Cup.
Lille had not played for two weeks, after last week's match in Monaco was postponed due to the death of the Principality's Prince Rainier, and the rest appeared to do them good.
Lille went ahead in the 40th minute when Moussilou got the better of Adama Coulibaly before shooting a powerful shot past Lens keeper Charles Itandje.
Jerome Leroy got Lens on level terms just three minutes later and the match looked to be heading for a draw when Fauvergue scored on the rebound after Itandje had saved a penalty from Lille captain Philippe Brunel in the 89th minute.
Marseille, largely without imagination or any pattern to their play, lost to Ajaccio who dominated the match.
Ajaccio, led by former Marseille coach Rolland Courbis - who had to appeal to be allowed into the stadium after he was involved in a transfer investigation - opened the scoring through Yohan Demont midway through the first half.
Courbis's men got a second goal eight minutes after the break when Marcelo Edson De Faria finished off a great pass from the right with a spectacular header at the far post.
Marseille, to their credit, rallied and pulled a goal back in the 59th minute when Habib Beye made the most of a goalmouth scramble, but the hosts failed to grab the equalizer.
Ajaccio eased their relegation worries, moving up to fifth from bottom and five points away from the three-team relegation zone.
Monaco paid the price of missing numerous first-half chances against Sochaux at the Bonal stadium and have now not won away since January 12. The result did neither side any good for their European ambitions but seventh-placed Sochaux still have an outside chance of making fourth spot.
Ernesto Javier Chevanton put Monaco ahead in the 10th minute before Araujo Ilan's 37th-minute equaliser against the run of play.
"Getting a draw at Sochaux is not a bad result but given our performance it's hard to understand how we didn't win," said a disappointed Monaco coach Didier Deschamps.
Lyon host crisis-hit side Paris St Germain on Sunday knowing they already have one hand on what would be their fourth consecutive league title - but whether Paul Le Guen's men can motivate themselves is another matter.
Le Guen watched in agony as PSV Eindhoven dumped Lyon out of Europe's premier club competition on Wednesday, the Dutch side winning 4-2 on penalties after extra time had left the score at 1-1.