A double strike from Brazilian Fred earned Olympique Lyonnais a 2-0 home win against bottom club FC Metz as the six-time champions restored a three-point advantage at the Ligue 1 summit after FC Girondins de Bordeaux failed to break down LOSC Lille Métropole.

Starting only his fourth league match this season, Fred opened the scoring on eight minutes after being set up by France striker Karim Benzema. He made it two an hour later by chipping the ball past Metz goalkeeper Christophe Marichez. Lyon, who were back to their best in a 1-1 draw against Manchester United FC in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, have 52 points from 26 matches and are due to play second-placed Bordeaux at the Stade de Gerland on 9 March.

Lyon are next in action at the Stade de France next Saturday, when they meet Lille in a match to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the national stadium. Although they are 14th in the table, Lille will 'host' the champions with confidence high after holding firm at the Chaban-Delmas.

Third-placed AS Nancy-Lorraine came from behind to post a 2-1 victory against RC Lens, who had not lost in their last five league outings. Kader Mangane put the visitors ahead just before the interval but Pascal Berenguer and Youssouf Hadji struck within five minutes midway through the second half to give the Lorraine side all three points.

Goals by Marco Basa and Anthony Le Tallec – later sent off along with Williams Martinez after a half-time scuffle – gave Le Mans UC 72 a 2-1 win at Valenciennes FC in an ill-tempered game and moved them up to fourth in the table on 40 points. UEFA Cup challengers Olympique de Marseille could have displaced them on Sunday but were unable to break down struggling Toulouse FC away.

Troubled Paris Saint-Germain FC remain three points above the danger zone after a 1-1 home draw against AS Monaco FC. Earlier on Saturday, Geoffrey Dernis scored twice to help AS Saint-Etienne pull away from the relegation zone with a 3-1 win at SM Caen. OGC Nice suffered another home setback as they lost 2-1 to Auxerre, while FC Sochaux-Montbéliard were also surprise away winners at RC Strasbourg. In the Brittany derby, finally, Stade Rennais FC beat FC Lorient 2-0 thanks to goals from Jimmy Briand and Jérôme Leroy.