Lille closed the gap on Ligue 1 table-toppers PSG with a 1-0 win at Sochaux on Wednesday.
Rudi Garcia's side are now six points adrift of the league leaders in third after a win that required plenty of effort at the Stade Auguste-Bonal.
Lille were expected to win easily against Sochaux, who are bottom of the table and had not won in their last 11 matches.
But the reigning Ligue 1 champions ran into a side that were more difficult to break down than expected.
Englishman Joe Cole was brought off the bench early in the second half as Lille looked to go more attacking and they finally got their goal 14 minutes from time.
Nolan Roux was the scorer, converting Benoit Pedretti's assist to keep Lille alive in the title race.
Elsewhere, Saint-Etienne moved to fourth after Pierre Aubdameyang scored a hat-trick in their 4-2 home win over Lorient.
After a goalless first half, an Arnold Mvuemba penalty handed the visitors an unexpected lead.
Gabon forward Aubdameyang hit back for Saint-Etienne with a quick-fire double but Lorient equalised with 15 minutes left through Mathias Autret.
Scores were still level heading into injury time before Bruno Ecuele Manga's own goal handed Saint-Etienne the lead.
And Aubameyang made sure of the victory with his late effort.
Wednesday's other match saw Caen come from behind to defeat Auxerre 2-1, with Kandia Troare and Livio Nabab scoring in the last 20 minutes for the winners.