AFP, PARIS: Lyon and Marseille kept the pressure firmly on Monaco in the race for Champions League qualification in France as Mario Balotelli fired Nice to another victory on Sunday.
Teenage midfielder Houssem Aouar scored twice, including a last-gasp winner, as Lyon came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Amiens and go second on goal difference above both Monaco and Marseille.
OM eased to a 3-0 win against a miserable Saint-Etienne side at the Velodrome in Sunday's late game, with Valere Germain netting twice.
That trio are all nine points behind Paris Saint-Germain, who are certain to end the calendar year top of the table after beating Lille 3-1 on Saturday with goals from Angel di Maria, Javier Pastore and Kylian Mbappe.
With PSG, who were without the suspended Neymar, huge favourites to win the title, that leaves just two places in next season's Champions League for the three sides below them.
Serge Gakpe had given Amiens the lead against Lyon before Aouar levelled in the 79th minute.
The hosts still could have won it, but former Chelsea prodigy Gael Kakuta missed a penalty in the 89th minute and Aouar made him pay as he popped up with the winner at the other end in the fourth minute of added time. “We got a couple of breaks but we did also go looking for the equaliser and then the victory by showing character and rolling our sleeves up,” said the Lyon coach Bruno Genesio, whose side have now claimed five consecutive away league wins.
It was a sickening finish for Amiens, who have impressed on their debut season in France's top flight. However, not for the first time security at their Stade de la Licorne was called into question. A part of the 11,500-capacity ground in the northern region of Picardy had to be evacuated before kick-off because strong winds had caused one of the floodlights to become partially detached, posing a security risk.
Around 500 spectators had to be moved to avoid any threat of the lighting falling on them.
At the end of September, 29 Lille supporters were injured as a barrier collapsed while they celebrated their team scoring. That game had to be abandoned.
Things were straightforward for Marseille in Sunday's late match, with Germain finally scoring his first league goals for the club following a summer move from Monaco.