Lille reclaimed top spot in Ligue 1 when they rediscovered their touch with a comprehensive 4-1 victory at Lorient on Sunday.
Andrew Gravillon's own goal and goals by Jose Fonte, Jonathan Ikone and Domagoj Bradaric put the northerners, who had drawn and lost their last two competitive games, on 58 points from 26 matches.
They lead second-placed Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Brest 3-2 away on Saturday, by three points and third-placed Paris St Germain by four ahead of the French champions' home game against Monaco later on Sunday.
The result left Lorient in 18th place with 23 points from 25 games.
After a seven-game winning streak in the league, Lille had drawn 0-0 against Brest before slumping to a 2-1 defeat against Ajax Amsterdam in a last-32 first leg on Thursday.
They went ahead after 21 minutes when Gravillon deflected Zeki Clik's strike into his own net, only for Lorient to strike back two minutes later courtesy of Jerome Hergault's curled shot into the far corner.
Fonte then collected a bad clearance from Enzo Le Fee to double Lille's tally with a crossed shot seven minutes before the break.
Ikone increased Lille's advantage just before the hour with a superb free kick and Bradaric wrapped it up with a missile from the edge of the box in stoppage time.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Clare Fallon)
