Although at the end of this weekend Lyon sit at the top of the table, it actually feels a little like PSG are a tad closer to another title, after they were the only team in the top six to win.

The Parisians, who have a game in hand at home to second-bottom Metz and so are nailed-on for the three points, are second only on goal difference after a relatively comfortable 3-1 win at Nice. Special mention to David Luiz, who kept his legs unviolated for a whole ninety minutes (although it was he who played Bodmer onside for Nice’s equaliser)!!

Lyon, meanwhile, had to settle for a 2-2 draw in their derby against Saint-Etienne. Les Gônes dominated the first half-hour and led, but a needless Lindsay Rose handball brought les Verts back into it and condemned Lyon to play an hour with ten men. In the end Hubert Fournier’s men had to battle back to salvage the draw, handing all the initiative back to Laurent Blanc’s team.

Saint-Etienne’s draw moves them level on points with Marseille, who fell to their third straight defeat, as Gakpe Serged onto a poor Fanni backpass to give Nantes a 1-0 win. After such a good season, Marseille are now in danger of missing out on all European competition next season. Still, they are still in touch with third place Monaco, who conceded a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Rennes. Leonardo Jardim’s men continue to struggle at home, which doesn’t bode well for the return Juventus match.

Bordeaux, Montpellier and Lille are the three other clubs with hopes of sneaking into the European places, and all three were in action on Sunday afternoon. An early Hilton goal gave Montpellier a 1-0 home win over Caen in sodden conditions. They are now only two points behind Bordeaux, who went down to 2-0 to Lille, who themselves move within four points of les Girondins.

As exciting as the top half of the table is, arguably the bottom half is more intriguing, as a group of teams battle to avoid the third relegation spot (Metz won the lanternerougeico, comfortably beating habitual bogey team Lens 3-1 to almost seal Lens’ fate, but Metz’s recent upturn in form – this their second straight win – surely comes too late for them).

Now sitting in the third drop spot are Lorient, who for the most part dominated proceedings but whose shooting was woeful, les Merlus ultimately succumbing 1-0 at home to Toulouse, who jump out of the drop zone and up three places.

Between Lorient and Toulouse are Evian and Bastia. Evian took advantage of a Lössl mistake to come back from a goal down to draw 1-1 at Guingamp. And a tired Bastia went down to their third defeat in a week, losing 2-1 at home to Reims, who also climb three places and buy themselves some breathing space at the bottom.

Player of the Week for brilliantly setting up both his team’s goals to keep up their outside chances of a European place is Lille’s Sofiane Boufal. Joining him in the Team of the Week are:

Goals of the Week

More goals than last week but not too many that will make any goal of the season shortlists, with several coming from poor defensive errors.

In third place is Giovanni Sio’s consolation for Bastia. A free kick swung in by Boudebouz, a sharp finish by Sio, but in between, a brilliant aerial backheel flick from Peybernes to open up the Reims defence.

In second place is Adama Traoré’s goal for Lille. A quick Lille break, good skills and balance from Boufal to control and keep the ball, then a lovely pass over the Bordeaux defence, and Traoré showed a calmness that belied in his 19 years in controlling, committing Biyogo Poko and Carrasso, and slotting home.

This week’s winner is Javier Pastore’s second for PSG. The finish, following up from a Pouplin save, was relatively straightforward. But it was he who had forced the Nice keeper into the save, hitting a powerful low shot after a bout of keepy-uppy in the area had confounded the Nice defence. Still not the best player in the world Eric, but certainly a sexy footballer when he’s in the mood.

Tuesday and Wednesday are Champions League quarter-final nights as PSG go to Barcelona 3-1 down and Monaco welcome Juventus looking to make up their one-goal deficit. Then we move onto Matchday 34 next weekend, as Marseille host Lorient and Lille travel to Paris, but arguably the stand-out match is Saint-Etienne vs Montpellier. @FrenchFtWeekly and @FFW_Live for all your live coverage needs.