Ligue 1 wrap: Title race no clearer

The traffic jam atop the Ligue 1 table shows no signs of thinning after victories to Lille, Paris Saint-Germain, Stade Rennes and Lyon.

Lille romped to a 2-0 win at Nice, PSG erased a one-goal deficit to topple Sochaux 2-1, Rennes crushed bottom-placed Arles 4-0 and Lyon eased to a 3-0 victory over Lorient on Saturday.

First-placed Lille maintained a slim one-point lead on the rest of the top four after Yao Kouassi and Moussa Sow notched goals in either half, extending Nice’s winless run to four matches.

Sochaux got themselves ahead early in the capital as Mali international Modibo Maiga found the net in the 14th minute, but Mamadou Sakho made a welcome return from a three-match suspension to equalise for PSG two minutes later.

The goal-scoring continued in the 23rd minute as veteran attacker Ludovic Giuly found a way past Sochaux goalkeeper Pierrick Cros, and PSG held sway for the rest of the contest to remain second on the table.

Dismal Arles travelled to Stade Rennes having won just one of 20 fixtures this season and were handed another crushing loss.

Norway international Alexander Tettey sparked the rout in the 23rd minute, before French starlet Yacine Brahimi notched a brace either side of the half-time whistle.

Yann M’Vila rubbed salt into Arles’ wounds with a penalty goal in stoppage time to keep Rennes in third.

Fourth-placed Lyon were just as efficient against Lorient, with Senegalese import Bafetimbi Gomis nabbing a brace either side of Swedish midfielder Kim Kallstrom’s first goal of the season.

In other results, Saint-Etienne suffered a shock 2-1 loss at relegation strugglers Lens thanks to an own-goal to captain Loic Perrin, but their misfortune was a boon for Toulouse and Montpellier.

Toulouse improved to fifth on the table with a 1-0 win over Nancy, while Montpellier rose to sixth after rallying to a 2-1 defeat of Valenciennes in which both teams were reduced to 10 men.

Caen got themselves out of the relegation zone with a gutsy 3-1 effort at Brest, and were replaced in 18th place by Monaco after their 1-1 draw at Auxerre.