Laurent Blanc's men took the lead 36 minutes into the game at the Parc des Princes as the hosts looked to capitalise on Monaco's 2-1 loss to Valenciennes on Friday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic putting them in front with a deflected free-kick from long range.
Lille levelled a minute before the break through midfielder Rio Mavuba and Rene Girard's men took the lead eight minutes into the second half when Salomon Kalou converted from the penalty spot following Lucas Digne's foul on former team-mate Franck Beria.
The visitors could not hang on as Marko Basa turned a corner into his own net, but the capital club failed to fashion a winner and are now three points ahead of Monaco going into the mid-season break.
Marseille needed to come from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw with Bordeaux.
Interim coach Jose Anigo's side appeared to be on their way to a third defeat in four league games as a Jussie header and a smart close-range finish from Nicolas Maurice-Belay put Bordeaux in command.
However, two goals in as many minutes rescued the hosts, with Alaixys Romao pulling one back before Andre-Pierre Gignac tapped home from point-blank range to deny fourth-placed Bordeaux a fifth league win in succession.
Lyon suffered the same fate to Bordeaux, Remi Garde's men throwing away a two-goal lead at Lorient.
Clement Grenier finished off a neat Lyon move to give the the visitors a first-half lead, which was doubled four minutes into the second half when Bafetimbi Gomis pounced on the rebound after Baptiste Reynet failed to handle Alexandre Lacazette's shot.
Garde's side could not close out the win, though, as Vincent Aboubakar gave Lorient hope with his 11th goal of the campaign, before the fightback was completed in the second minute of injury time as Alain Traore headed home Raphael Guerreiro's left-wing cross.
