A hat-trick from Alexandre Lacazette earned Lyon a 3-0 victory over Saint-Etienne in the Rhone derby on Sunday.
With Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain hammering Toulouse 5-0 to extend their lead at the summit on Saturday, Hubert Fournier's men could not afford to slip up in the clash with their local rivals a day later.
And Lacazette had a major role in dispatching a Saint-Etienne side who have been inconsistent of late, opening the scoring following a Loic Perrin slip four minutes before half-time.
When Stephane Ruffier spilled Rafael's effort just prior to the hour, Lacazette converted the rebound before adding a third late on when he collected Jordan Ferri's pass and rounded the visiting goalkeeper.
Lyon - unbeaten in five league matches - remain 10 points off PSG going into the international break with traditional challengers Marseille struggling for consistency.
After consecutive wins, they were beaten 1-0 by Nice courtesy of Valere Germain's 16th-minute winner, while Bordeaux came from a goal down to beat Monaco 3-1 at the Stade Matmut Atlantique.
Helder Costa opened the scoring 23 minutes in but goals from Nicolas Maurice-Belay and Cedric Yambere turned the game around before half-time.
Czech midfielder Jaroslav Plasil sealed the points with his third goal of the season shortly after the restart as Bordeaux moved 11th - three points off their hosts, who are ninth.
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