Their 4-0 drubbing at Strasbourg and Champions League reversal midweek to FC Porto were forgotten as Alain Perrin's side moved one point ahead of rival's Monaco who could reclaim the lead when they travel to midtable Sochaux Sunday.

A colourless first half in their Velodrome stadium was marked by confusion in the midfield before Daniel Van Buyten claimed the first goal just before the half time whistle with substitute Didier Drogba sealing victory after 77 minutes with his seventh goal of the season.

Earlier Brazilian midfield star Juninho got French champions Lyon back to winning ways with his third goal of the campaign which ended the unbeaten home record of Nantes.

Lyon jump two spots to provisional third behind Marseille and Monaco.

The Brittany side came out firing on all cylinders with Lyon keeper Gregory Coupet doing well to keep out shots from Nantes striker Gregory Pujol and midfielder Frederic Da Rocha in the first fifteen minutes.

Coupet kept out another attempt by Da Rocha after 26 minutes, with a shot by midfielder Mathieu Berson cleared by Lyon central defender Edmilson six minutes later.

Lyon finished the first half with more energy, and kept up the pressure after the break with midfielder Florent Malouda feeding Juninho who fired in the winner from the right after 67 minutes to give Lyon just their third win in 33 vists to Nantes.

After back-to-back draws at home against Sochaux in the French league and Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Lyon showed they are in the running to defend their title, with Nantes now sitting in fifth position after their first loss at home this season.

Strasbourg meanwhile were quickly brought back down to earth following last weekend's hammering of Marseille with goals in either half from striker Toifilou Maoulida giving neigbouring Metz a 2-0 win.

Montpellier also scored an away win a 1-0 reversal of struggling Burgundy outfit Auxerre.

Two late strikes gave Lens a 2-1 victory in their northern derby with Lille ending their run of three straight losses, with Lille still searching for their first win since August 16.

Guingamp also stopped the rot with a 1-0 home win against Toulouse, while fourth placed Paris SG had to settle for a 0-0 stalemate at Ajaccio.

Bordeaux's new coach Michel Pavon failed to inspire his side to a vintage performance with a dour 0-0 at Nice, which leaves the western French side wallowing in 16th position.

Bastia were held to a 1-1 draw at bottom table Le Mans.