Lyon ended a losing run of three successive defeats on Sunday as they demolished Bordeaux 4-0 away to move to within three points of Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint Germain.
PSG can extend their lead to six points if they beat Sochaux away later on Sunday.
Lyon youngsters Clement Grenier, the 22-year-old with his first double for the club, Gueida Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette, both just 21, scored in an impressive away performance.
Victory also saw Lyon regain second spot from Marseille, who had gained a barely-deserved 1-0 win at home to Valenciennes on Saturday, with an injury-time goal from defender Rod Fanni at least setting them up nicely for next weekend's French 'clasico' in Paris with PSG.
With PSG fans drooling over the prospect of David Beckham making his debut for the club against longtime rivals Marseille next Sunday the latter, whose last league crown came in 2010, were determined to set themselves up as realistic title challengers.
Marseille fans will hope their side produce rather more scintillating football next week than they did for long periods against a Valenciennes side destined to spend the season comfortably ensconced in mid-table.
But Fanni insisted his side were good value for their win.
"We deserved it as we had more chances than Valenciennes. We gave it a real go in the first half and I said in the dressing room at half-time we had to calm things down -- we couldn't risk losing this chance to get back on track," said Fanni.
"We were able to go back out and get the result."
On Friday, Lille moved to within three points of fourth-placed Saint Etienne with a 2-0 win at home to Rennes.
Source: AFP
