Monaco held, Saint-Etienne gain ground

Monaco dropped two valuable points in the race to catch Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain as Lille forced a 1-1 draw at Stade Louis II. Mounir Obbadi fired the hosts into an early lead but Divock Origi had dragged Lille back into the game by half-time and Monaco were unable to find a winner after the break. The result may prove crucial in the title race as PSG now hold a ten-point advantage over the principality club heading into the eight-game run-in. St Etienne moved within two points of third-placed Lille and avoided a third successive league defeat with a confident 3-1 win over ten-man Sochaux. Les Verts ensured the pressure was kept on the final Champions League spot thanks to a Franck Tabanou strike sandwiched in between a Mevlut Erding brace. Edouard Butin netted in the second half for Sochaux before Cedric Bakambu was shown a second yellow card for handball with ten minutes left. Lyon sit three points further back in fifth following a hard-fought 1-0 win in Guingamp. Bafetimbi Gomis' 11th goal of the season just after the interval proved to be enough to bring an end to a run of two successive defeats for Les Gones following Thursday's UEFA Europa League defeat in Plzen. Source: FIFA.com