Nice edges Saint-Etienne 1-0 to take second

PARIS (AP) -Olivier Echouafni scored as Nice won 1-0 over Saint-Etienne for its fourth straight victory to rise to second place in the French league on Saturday.

On a snow-covered pitch, Echouafni outjumped Cedric Varrault to head in a corner from David Hellebuyck in the 21st minute.

Nice has 28 points, while Saint-Etienne lost its seventh straight match to drop to last place with 10 points.

Meanwhile, Lyon kept the top spot in the league despite losing 1-0 to Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG winger Ludovic Giuly nodded in a cross from fullback Ceara in the 25th.

Lyon defender Anthony Reveillere was replaced in the 12th after picking up a knee injury while Lyon playmaker Juninho was red-carded in the 76th for a foul on leftback Sylvain Armand.

"It was a bad evening,'' Lyon midfielder Jean Makoun said. "We lost the match, we got a red card, and we have again some injured players.

"After PSG opened the scoring, we had some trouble finding gaps. We tried to split their defense in the second half, but down to 10 men it was difficult.''

PSG moved into fifth place with 26 points while the defending champion's lead shrank from seven to five points.

Also, it was: Bordeaux 1, Rennes 1; Lorient 1, Toulouse 0; Caen 1, Auxerre 0; Grenoble 0, Le Havre 0; Valenciennes 2, Sochaux 2.

In Bordeaux, Rennes' Olivier Thomert charged down a poor clearance from goalkeeper Mathieu Valverde to poke the ball into the empty net in the 19th. But France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff took advantage of a miscommunication between defender Kader Mangane and goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez to equalize in the 60th.

"Tonight we conceded a goal that could have been avoided,'' Gourcuff told Canal Plus television. "But we managed to equalize. It was important not to lose twice in a row.''

Rennes slipped to fourth place with 26 points, while Bordeaux remained in sixth place with 25 points.

In Lorient, Fabrice Abriel on a counterattack fed Kevin Gameiro, who scored from close range in the 73rd.

Reynald Lemaitre nodded in a corner in the 57th to lift Caen over Auxerre.

Sochaux substitute Sloan Privat beat goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau with a header in the 86th-minute equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Valenciennes.

Sochaux forward Mevlut Erding pounced on a backpass from Jacques Abardonado to chip the ball over Penneteau in the 39th.

Valenciennes midfielder Jose Saez leveled with a volley in the 64th, before Johan Audel gave Valenciennes the lead in the 67th with an angled shot after a pass from Gael Danic.

Valenciennes went down to 10 men in the 72nd after Jonathan Lacourt picked up a second yellow card.

Both Sochaux and Valenciennes remain in the relegation zone with 10 points each.

On Sunday, Monaco takes on Le Mans, Marseille plays Lille and Nantes faces Nancy.